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NOTES 

ON   THE    USE    OF 

ANTHRACITE 

IN    THE 

MANUFACTURE    OF     IRON. 

WITH  SOME  REMARKS 

ON    ITS 

EVAPORATING  POWER. 
BY  WALTER  R.  JOHNSON,  A.  M., 

CIVIL  AND    MINING    ENGINEER;    PROFESSOR    OF    CHEMISTRY  AND    NATURAL    PHI- 
LOSOPHY IN  THE  MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  COLLEGE  ;  LATE 
PROFESSOR    OF  MECHANICS  AND    NATURAL  PHILOSOPHY    IN  THE  FRANK- 
LIN INSTITUTE,  PHILADELPHIA;  MEMBER  OF  THE  NATIONAL  IN- 
STITUTION   FOR  THE    PROMOTION    OF  SCIENCE  j    OF    THE  ACAD- 
EMY   OF    NATURAL    SCIENCE    OF     PHILADELPHIA  ;    OF    THE 
ASSOCIATION    OF    AMERICAN    GEOLOGISTS,    &C.  &C. 


BOSTON: 

CHARLES  C.  LITTLE  AND  JAMES  BROWN. 


MDCCCXLI. 


T~A  ?p 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1841,  by 

WALTER  R.  JOHNSON, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


BOSTON: 

PRINTED    BY    FREEMAN    AND    BOLLES, 
WASHINGTON    STREET. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  object  of  the  following  brief  notices  of  an 
important  branch  of  our  iron  manufactures,  is  at 
once  to  record  in  a  permanent  form  and  in  a  con- 
nected view  an  account  of  the  efforts  which  have 
been  made  in  different  quarters  to  accomplish  the 
reduction  of  iron  ores  with  anthracite,  and  to  fur- 
nish to  many  interested  inquirers  that  information 
which  may,  in  some  degree,  guide  future  under- 
takings in  this  department  of  the  useful  arts.  To 
the  intelligent  proprietors  of  the  several  works  de- 
scribed in  the  following  pages,  the  writer's  acknow- 
ledgments are  due  for  the  prompt  manner  in  which 
their  several  establishments,  and,  when  desired,  the 
records  of  their  operations  have  been  placed  under 
his  inspection. 

A  like  acknowledgment  is  due  to  those  scientific 
and  practical  gentlemen  who  have  with  so  much 

M13O416 


•*<• 

-<!*'' 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

liberality  placed  in  his  hands  the  results  of  expe- 
rience on  the  heating  power  of  anthracite  and  the 
various  forms  of  boilers. 

The  few  inductions  which  he  has  ventured  to 
make,  from  the  data  herein  detailed,  will  of  course 
be  received  with  a  proper  understanding  of  the 
number  of  facts  on  which  they  rest. 

It  has  been  the  author's  earnest  desire  to  impart 
only  useful  information,  and  he  has  accordingly 
omitted  all  notice  of  trials  on  smelting  with  an- 
thracite reputed  to  have  been  made  in  private,  the 
results  of  which  have  not  been  deemed  sufficiently 
important  by  their  authors  to  give  them  publicity 
or  to  warrant  a  farther  prosecution  of  their  labors. 

In  a  more  extended  work  on  the  general  subject 
of  the  manufacture  of  iron,  for  which  he  has  been 
for  some  years  collecting  the  materials,  the  writer 
proposes  to  place  before  the  public,  in  a  convenient 
form,  both  the  scientific  and  practical  information 
so  much  desired  by  all  who  are  interested  in  the 
various  branches  of  this  important  department  of 
industry. 

OCTOBER,   1841. 


NOTES. 


SCARCELY  any  branch  of  art  is  more  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  progress  of  civili- 
zation than  the  manufacture  of  Iron.  The 
"  precious  metals  "  cannot  be  compared  with 
this  material  in  real  value  and  usefulness.  As 
it  ministers  to  all  those  arts  which  convert 
other  productions  of  nature  to  the  purposes  of 
man,  it  may  claim  to  be  the  right  hand  of  in- 
dustry in  all  its  forms  and  applications.  The 
warehouse,  workshop  and  dwellings  of  some 
countries  are  either  supported,  or  covered,  or 
wholly  built  of  this  metal.  Floating  struc- 


2  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

tures,  exceeding  in  magnitude  the  largest  line- 
of-battle  ships,  are  formed  of  iron,  and  urged 
by  machines  of  gigantic  proportions  of  the 
same  material.  The  rigging  and  ground-tackle, 
not  only  of  iron  steamers  but  of  many  other 
vessels,  are  now  constructed  mainly  of  wrought 
iron.  Our  modern  wonders  of  locomotion 
could  not  possibly  have  existed  in  ancient 
times.  Furnaces  and  rolling-mills  and  ma- 
chine shops,  which  could  spring  up  only  con- 
temporaneously with  large  developments  of  the 
iron  manufacture,  were  essential  to  the  pro- 
duction of  these  astonishing  results. 

All  who  regard  the  manufacture  of  iron  in 
the  light  above  presented,  must  hail  every  im- 
provement in  its  production  with  interest  and 
pleasure  ;  and  the  application  to  this  purpose 
of  a  material,  which,  a  short  time  ago,  was 
regarded  as  wholly  useless  in  Europe,  and  of 
which  America  had  then  made  but  a  limited 
use  beyond  domestic  purposes,  is  naturally  the 
subject  of  much  inquiry  and  speculation. 

The  main  object  of  the  following  brief  ac- 
count of  this  branch  of  the  iron  manufacture 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  3 

is,  to  state  the  facts,  so  far  as  known,  relative 
to  its  introduction  and  present  state,  with  such 
deductions  as  may  be  found  useful  in  regard 
to  the  construction  and  action  of  the  several 
establishments.  The  facts  thus  collected  and 
collated  may,  it  is  hoped,  serve  in  some  mea- 
sure as  guides  to  future  practice,  and,  at  least, 
prove  salutary  indications  of  what  is  to  be 
avoided  in  the  application  of  anthracite  to  this 
important  purpose. 

A  few  years  only  have  elapsed  since  the 
introduction  of  anthracite  into  extensive  use 
for  domestic  purposes.  A  still  shorter  period 
has  passed  since  it  was  held  to  be  a  moot- 
point  whether  or  not  this  combustible  could 
be  used  for  generating  steam  ;  and  even  after 
numerous  stationary  engines,  particularly  in 
Philadelphia  and  its  immediate  neighborhood, 
had  been  using  this  fuel  for  several  years,  it 
was  regarded  by  some  as  doubtful  whether,  in 
steamboats  and  locomotive  engines,  it  could  be 
substituted  for  wood.  The  problem  of  its  ap- 
plicability to  the  purposes  of  the  founder,  to 
melt  iron  in  the  cupola,  has  been  settled  affirm- 


4  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

ativelj  for  some  years  —  as  have  all  the  other 
points  above  referred  to.  For  the  forge-fire  of 
the  common  blacksmith  it  has  been  extensively 
introduced.  In  our  anthracite  region  no  other 
fuel  is  used  for  this  purpose  ;  and  for  various 
manufactures,  such  as  lime-burning,  malting, 
&c.,  it  has  been  put  into  considerable  requisi- 
tion. An  object  of  not  less  importance,  per- 
haps, than  any  of  the  preceding,  is  its  employ- 
ment in  the  smelting  of  iron  ore  in  the  blast 

o 

furnace,  and  the  converting  of  cast,  into  malle- 
able iron,  by  refining,  puddling  and  re-heating. 
The  making  of  iron  with  coke,  so  long  prac- 
tised in  England,  Scotland  and  Wales,  as  well 
as  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  can  hardly  be 
said  to  have  yet  come  into  practice  in  this 
country.  A  number  of  attempts  have,  it  is 
true,  been  made  to  introduce  this  important 
branch  of  manufacture,  and,  as  was  very  natu- 
ral, the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  abounding 
throughout  a  vast  portion  of  her  territory  with 
bituminous  coal,  in  immediate  contiguity  with 
beds  of  iron  ore  and  limestone,  has  been  the 
scene  of  most  of  those  attempts.  The  legisla- 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  5 

ture  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1836,  passed  an  act  for 
the  encouragement  of  the  manufacture  of  iron 
by  mineral  fuel,  giving  to  the  governor  authority 
to  charter  companies  with  ample  powers  in 
regard  to  the  amount  of  stock  and  quantity  of 
land,  for  the  purpose  of  prosecuting  this  branch 
of  industry.  In  the  same  year,  though  not 
under  the  privileges  conferred  by  this  law,  a 
quantity  of  iron  was  made  with  coke,  by  Mr. 
F.  H.  Oliphant,  of  Fayette  county,  who  sent 
to  the  Franklin  Institute  samples  of  the  metal 
produced,  and  of  the  various  materials  em- 
ployed at  the  furnace.  It  is  understood,  how- 
ever, that  this  gentleman  does  not  continue 
the  manufacture  of  iron  by  coke,  probably 
from  the  higher  value  set  upon  charcoal  iron, 
particularly  for  conversion  into  steel,  which  is 
carried  on  at  his  establishment.  It  is  also 
probable  that,  in  a  region  where  wood  is  still 
abundant  and  mining  labor  scarce,  the  econo- 
my of  using  coke  instead  of  charcoal  may  ad- 
mit of  some  doubt,  especially  as  the  cost  of 
machinery  and  power,  to  supply  blast  for  coke 
i* 


g  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

furnaces,  is  generally  greater  than  that  required 
for  charcoal. 

During  the  years  1835-36  and  37,  furnaces 
were  erected  at  Karthaus  and  Farrandsville, 
on  the  west  branch  of  the  Susquehannah  river, 
and  at  Frozen  Run,  near  the  Lycoming  creek. 
At  the  first  of  these  establishments,  several 
hundred  tons  of  pig  metal  were  produced  by 
coke,  but  for  want  of  .due  discrimination  in 
the  selection,  and  care  in  the  preparation  of 
ores,  the  quality  of  the  product  was  such  as  to 
render  it  unsalable,  and  the  works  had  the 
farther  disadvantage  of  being  placed  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  present  state  improvements, 
a  circumstance,  which  rendered  the  transporta- 
tion of  supplies  as  well  as  of  the  metal,  too 
uncertain  and  expensive.  The  furnace  at 
Farrandsville  was  unfortunately  placed  in  re- 
gard to  the  ore,  the  latter  being  brought  by 
canal  from  Larrey  creek  and  Bloomsburg,  at 
distances  of  twenty  and  one  hundred  miles. 
The  wealthy  gentlemen,  to  whose  liberal  out- 
lays the  erection  of  this  fine  establishment  is 
due,  have,  it  is  understood,  come  to  the  deter- 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  7 

mination  to  dispose  of  the  same,  and  thus  to 
relinquish  the  honor  which  the  friends  of  our 
domestic  industry  had  hoped  to  see  them 
achieve  ;  namely,  that  of  introducing  the  pro- 
fitable manufacture  of  iron  by  means  of  the 
bituminous  coal  of  Pennsylvania.  The  fur- 
nace at  Frozen  Run  is  well  situated  in  regard 
to  ore,  having  a  three  feet  bed  of  yellowish 
white  carbonate,  as  its  principal  reliance  ;  but 
the  beds  of  coal  in  the  neighborhood  have  not 
proved  so  valuable  for  immediate  use,  as  the 
heavy  forests  of  timber  growing  above  them  ; 
and  hence  the  furnace  was  found  at  the  last 
visit  of  the  writer  (September,  1839)  to  be  using 
charcoal,  and  making  therewith  excellent  pig 
metal.  In  this  brief  reference  to  coke  fur- 
naces in  Pennsylvania,  it  wrould  be  unjust  to 
omit  mentioning  that  of  Lonakoning,  situated 
on  George's  creek,  in  Maryland,  a  few  miles 
south  of  the  Pennsylvania  line,  and  in  the  rich 
coal  basin  lying  between  the  Savage  and  the 
Little  Alleghany  mountains.  When  visited^ 
in  the  beginning  of  June,  1839,  this  furnace 
was  making  about  seventy  tons  per  week  of 


g  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

good  foundry  metal,  and  every  thing  betokened 
a  successful  prosecution  of  its  operations.*  It 
had,  however,  the  misfortune  to  be  situated 
remote  from  any  available  line  of  public  works, 

*  The  principal  bed  of  coal  at  Lonakoning  is  14  feet 
thick,  of  which  9  feet  are  worked.  The  ore  is  in  differ- 
ent seams,  from  7  to  12  or  more  inches  thick.  The 
limestone  is  four  feet  thick.  All  the  materials  are  found 
at  higher  levels  than  the  trunnel  head  of  the  furnace. 
The  furnace  has  a  diameter  of  14  feet  at  the  boshes, 
which  slope  back  6  1-3  inches  to  the  foot  of  rise.  The 
ore  yields  33  per  cent,  of  iron.  The  blast  is  supplied 
by  a  steam  engine,  of  which  the  cylinder  has  a  diameter 
of  18  inches,  and  an  8  feet  stroke.  The  steam  is  gene- 
rated in  five  boilers,  24  feet  long  and  36  inches  in  diam- 
eter, at  a  pressure  of  50  pounds  per  square  inch.  The 
number  of  revolutions  per  minute  was  12.  The  cylin- 
der for  blast  is  five  feet  in  diameter,  and  of  the  same 
length  as  the  steam  cylinder,  viz.  eight  feet ;  the  same 
piston-rod  extending  through  both  cylinders.  The 
quantity  of  blast  was  3770  feet  per  minute,  under  a 
pressure  of  2  or  2  1-2  pounds  per  square  inch  ;  demand- 
ing at  the  latter  tension,  a  force  of  50.9  horse  powers. 
The  engine  is  capable  of  exerting  a  force  of  74  horses. 
It  injects  daily  181  tons  of  air  in  making  10  tons  of  pig 
iron,  and  burning  the  coke  from  50  tons  of  coal. 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  9 

and  accordingly  the  expense  of  bringing  its 
products  to  market,  has  paralyzed  its  operations. 

On  the  south  branch  of  Jennings's  Run,  a  few 
miles  north-eastvvardly  from  Frostburg,  and  in 
the  same  coal  basin  with  Lonakoning,  two  large 
blast  furnaces,  on  the  Welsh  plan,  for  using 
coke  or  bituminous  coal,  are  now  in  progress. 

In  contrast  with  this  slow  progress  and  lan- 
guishing state  of  the  coke  establishments,  we 
find  that  within  little  more  than  three  years, 
the  anthracite  furnaces  have  commanded  the 
attention  of  many  enterprising  parties,  and 
that  already  not  less  than  eleven  or  twelve, 
have,  in  Pennsylvania,  been  devoted  to  the 
prosecution  of  this  manufacture.  Three  or  four 
more  are  in  contemplation,  and  will  doubtless 
be  speedily  erected.  Four  are  either  finished  or 
in  progress  at  Stanhope,  on  the  line  of  the  Mor- 
ris canal,  in  New  Jersey.  Those  who  have 
clearly  understood  the  character  of  anthracite, 
as  being  the  most  dense  form  of  mineral  fuel, 
have  long  perceived  the  importance  of  apply- 
ing it  to  the  smelting  of  iron.  Its  comparative 
freedom  from  waste  by  transportation,  and  its 


10  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

little  liability  to  change  by  atmospheric  influ- 
ences, have  marked  it  as  singularly  favorable 
for  use  in  furnaces  at  a  distance  from  the  place 
of  its  origin.  But  the  more  recent  develop- 
ments in  the  anthracite  formations  have  proved 
that  it  is  not,  in  general,  necessary  to  resort  to 
the  expedient  of  carrying  either  the  coal  to  the 
ore  or  the  ore  to  the  coal,  in  order  to  be  able 
to  make  iron  with  anthracite.  If  either  of 
these  courses  of  transportation  were  really  ne- 
cessary, the  former  would  for  the  most  part  be 
preferable,  because  the  weight  of  ore  necessary 
to  produce  a  given  weight  of  metallic  iron,  is 
in  general  greater  than  that  of  the  anthracite 
required  for  its  reduction.  Thus,  of  the  rich 
fossiliferous  ore  of  Bloomsburg,  from  2  to  2  1-4 
tons  are  required  to  make  one  ton  of  iron, 
while  of  Wilkesbarre  anthracite,  from  one  ton 
and  ten  to  one  ton  and  twelve  hundred  weight 
is  the  quantity  demanded,  including  what  is 
necessary  for  heating  the  blast.  When  it 
becomes  necessary  to  use  anthracite  to  pro- 
duce steam  power  for  blast,  the  amounts  of 
coal  and  ore  are  nearly  equal,  and  the  pro- 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  \  J 

prietj  of  one  or  the  other  course  of  convey- 
ance, would  then  be  determined  by  other  con- 
siderations. 

But,  to  return  to  the  uses  of  anthracite;  it 
is  not  merely  in  the  smelting  of  ores,  and  the 
production  of  pig  metal,  that  our  iron  manu- 
factures are  now  affording  a  profitable  employ- 
ment of  this  fuel.  It  has  been  satisfactorily 
demonstrated,  that  the  processes  of  puddling, 
boiling,  and,  in  subsequent  stages  of  the  pro- 
cess, that  of  heating  blooms,  slabs  and  billets, 
can  all  be  effected  by  this  fuel  alone.  This, 
in  fact,  with  its  use  in  the  smith's  fire,  carries 
the  metal  through  every  stage,  from  the  ore  to 
the  manufactured  article,  with  no  other  fuel 
than  anthracite. 

As  above  hinted,  our  anthracites  are  like  our 
bituminous  coal'  deposites,  largely  intermixed 
with  iron  ores,  hitherto  much  neglected ;  and 
hence  the  establishment  of  anthracite  iron- 
works in  Pennsylvania,  with  the  exception  of 
limestone,  involves  no  question  relative  to  the 
cost  of  transporting  the  raw  material.  The 
methods  of  boiling  and  puddling  with  anthracite 


12  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

have,  it  is  believed,  like  the  smelting  of  ores 
with  the  same  fuel,  been  first  invented  in 
this  country.*  They  will  doubtless  be  applied 

*  Dr.  Geisenheimer's  patent  for  smelting  iron  with 
anthracite  and  hot  Wast,  was  taken  out,  we  believe,  be- 
fore any  thing  was  effected,  in  that  way,  in  Wales.  This 
patent  is  understood  to  have  been  bought  up  by  Mr. 
Crane,  and  is  believed  to  be  the  only  one,  if  any,  which 
can  avail  against  the  public  use  of  this  process  in  the 
United  States. 

This  patent  of  Frederick  W.  Geisenheimer  bears  date 
19th  December,  1833.  We  take  from  it  the  following 

EXTRACT    FROM    THE    SCHEDULE. 

"  CLAIMS.  First  —  the  application  of  anthracite  coal, 
exclusively  or  in  part,  in  deoxidating  and  carbonating 
iron  ore  as  above  specified  and  described. 

Secondly  —  the  application  of  anthracite  coal,  exclu- 
sively or  in  part,  in  combining  iron,  in  a  metallic  state, 
with  a  greater  quantity  of  carbon  ;  if  bar  iron  for  steel, 
if  pig  or  cast  iron  for  a  superior  quality,  as  above  speci- 
fied and  described. 

Thirdly  —  the  smelting  or  reducing  of  iron  ore,  so 
deoxidated  and  carbonated  by  the  application  of  anthra- 
cite coal  as  aforesaid,  into  pig  or  cast  iron. 

Fourthly  —  the  refining  or  converting  of  iron  ore,  so 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  J3 

to  the  conversion  into  bar  iron  of  other  pig 
metal  than  that  smelted  with  anthracite,  and 
thus  a  large  demand  for  the  combustible  can- 
not fail  to  be  created. 

Among  the  earliest  attempts  to  use  anthra- 
cite for  smelting  iron,  may  be  mentioned  that 
of  certain  members  of  the  Lehigh  Coal  and 

deoxidated  and  carbonated  by  the  application  of  anthra- 
cite coal  as  aforesaid,  into  malleable  or'bar  iron. 

Fifthly  —  the  application  of  anthracite  coal  as  fuel, 
in  smelting  or  reducing  iron  ore  raw  or  roasted,  but  not 
prepared  by  a  previous  separate  process  of  deoxidation 
and  carbonation  as  above  described,  into  pig  or  cast  iron. 

Sixthly  —  Though  I  cannot  and  do  .not  claim  an  ex- 
clusive right  of  the  use  of  heated  air  for  any  kind  of 
fuel,  nevertheless  I  believe  to  have  a  right  to  claim  and 
do  claim  the  use  of  heated  air,  applied  upon  and  in  con- 
nexion with  the  said  principle  and  manner  discovered 
by  me,  to  smelt  iron  ore  in  blast  furnaces,  with  anthra- 
cite coal,  by  applying  a  blast  of  air  in  such  quantity, 
velocity  and  density,  or  under  such  pressure,  as  the 
compactness  or  density  and  the  continuity  of  the  anthra- 
cite coal  requires,  as  above  amply  and  fully  described 
and  illustrated."  [Dated  at  the  city  of  New  York,  on 
the  twenty-first  day  of  November,  1833.] 


14  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

Navigation  Company,  who,  in  the  year  1820, 
erected  near  Mauch  Chunk  a  furnace,  intended 
for  that  purpose.  This  was  anterior  to  the 
establishment  referred  to  in  the  annexed  table, 
under  the  name  of  Mauch  Chunk  furnace. 
The  first  attempt  on  the  Lehigh  resulted  in 
nearly  the  same  manner  as  did  a  similar  trial 
at  Vizille,  on  the  borders  of  France  and  Swit- 
zerland, under  the  charge  of  MM.  Gueymard 
and  Robin,  where  it  was  attempted  to  use  an- 
thracite either  alone  or  in  connexion  with 
other  fuel.  This  last,  it  is  well  known,  \vas 
abandoned  in  despair  of  rendering,  by  this 
means,  the  manufacture  of  iron  profitable,  and 
the  outlay  of  one  or  two  hundred  thousand 
francs  was  set  down  to  the  debtor  side  of  profit 
and  loss.*  As  no  succinct  account  of  those 

*  An  account  by  M.  Gueymard,  of  the  commence- 
ment, progress  and  result  of  these  experiments,  was 
published  in  the  Annales  des  Mines,  vol.  iii.,  3d  series, 
p.  71 ;  and  in  the  4th  volume  of  the  same  work,  same 
series,  is  contained  another  account  of  the  same  trials, 
by  M.  Robin,  by  whom  a  part  of  the  experiments  were 
superintended.  The  latter  describes  the  furnace. 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  15 

trials  has  probably  been  published  in  this  coun- 
try, it  will,  perhaps,  not  be  unacceptable  to  the 
reader  to  have  the  following  statements  placed, 
either  for  instruction  or  warning,  in  connexion 
with  our  account  of  what  has  been  accom- 
plished in  the  United  States. 

M.  Gueymard  justly  remarked  that,  at  the 
period  when  the  trials  at  Vizille  were  made, 
no  precedent  existed  by  which  to  solve  the 
most  difficult  and,  perhaps,  the  boldest  pro- 
blem which  the  excitements  of  industry 
throughout  France,  for  the  three  preceding 
years,  had  called  into  notice.  England  had 
exhibited  only  two  fruitless  attempts  to  smelt 
iron  with  anthracite  ;  and  in  these  it  was  found 
that,  as  long  as  the  proportion  of  anthracite 
did  not  exceed  one  fifth  of  the  whole  fuel,  the 
furnaces  continued  to  work  as  usual,  and  the 
iron  remained  grey ;  but  beyond  this  limit  the 
pig  became  white,  the  furnaces  chilled  and 
were  in  danger  of  choking. 

In  making  the  experiments  at  Vizille,  every 
appliance  then  at  the  command  of  the  iron 
manufacturer  appears  to  have  been  brought  to 


IQ  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

bear  upon  the  success  of  the  undertaking. 
The  stack  was  of  ample  dimensions  and  ap- 
proved form,  corresponding,  as  will  be  seen  on 
inspecting  the  sketch  given  below,  with  fur- 
naces elsewhere  employed  with  success  in 
using  coke.  It  was  10  feet  4  inches  across 
the  boshes,  42  feet  8  inches  from  the  bottom 
of  the  hearth  to  the  trunnel  head,  with  a  chim- 
ney 14  feet  above  the  latter ;  and  the  pitch  of 
the  boshes  was  57°.  An  engine  of  80  horse 
power  was  employed  to  furnish  blast,  the 
pressure  of  which  was  sometimes  urged  as 
high  as  4  Ibs.  to  the  square  inch.  The  num- 
ber and  size  of  the  nozzles  were  varied  to  suit 
the  exigencies  of  the  case.  Care  had  been 
taken  to  avoid  the  destruction  of  the  hearth, 
boshes  and  inwalls,  by  forming  them  entirely 
of  the  best  fire-brick.  The  blast  was  com- 
menced with  coke  from  the  coal  of  Rive-de- 
Gier,  and,  with  this  fact,  of  which  10.71  per 
cent,  were  ashes,  excellent  foundry  iron  was 
produced. 

The  accompanying  sketch,  on  a  scale  of  3-4 
inch  to  ten  feet,  exhibits  a  section  of  the  inte- 


ANTHRACITE  IRON. 


17 


rior  of  the  furnace  at  Vizille,  in  which  were 
made  the  experiments  on  smelting  with  anthra- 


T 


2.13 


cite,  in   1827-8.     From   the   bottom   of  the 
hearth  jB,  to  the  trunnel-head  T7,  the  height 


18  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

was  13  metres,  or  42.65  feet.  The  square, 
(creuset^)  was  a  parallelepiped,  7.38  feet  long, 
2.13  feet  wide,  and  2.3  feet  high.  From  this 
rose  the  working  section  of  the  hearth,  (ou- 
vrage,)  in  which,  above  the  top  of  the  square,, 
were  placed  the  blast  tuyeres.  This  section 
was  in  the  form  of  an  inverted  truncated  cone, 
5.9  feet  high,  2.13  in  diameter  at  the  bottom, 
and  3.94  at  the  top,  where  it  joined  the 
boshes,  (etalages,)  which  were  in  the  form  of 
a  truncated,  eight-sided  pyramid,  3.94  feet  in 
diameter  at  the  bottom,  10.33  at  the  top,  and 
4.92  feet  in  vertical  elevation,  —  thus  making 
the  whole  height,  from  the  bottom  of  the  hearth 
to  the  top  of  the  boshes,  13.12  feet,  or  exactly 
4  metres. 

When  the  furnace  had  been  brought  to  a 
good  state  of  working  with  coke,  the  first  ex- 
periment with  anthracite  was  made  by  substi- 
tuting for  one  tenth  of  the  coke  an  equal  weight 
of  anthracite.  The  effect  of  this  change  was 
to  render  the  metal,  if  any  thing,  rather  better 
than  before,  and  only  to  retard  slightly  the 
descent  of  the  charges. 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  ]9 

With  two  tenths  anthracite  the  result  was 
very  nearly  the  same,  or  with  but  a  little  more 
retardation. 

Three  tenths  of  anthracite  gave  a  still  fur- 
ther retardation,  but  the  iron  and  cinder  both 
continued  good,  only  a  trace  of  iron  being 
found  in  the  latter. 

With  four  tenths  of  anthracite  a  still  further 
retardation  in  the  speed  of  descent  occurred, 
and  the  furnace  began  to  be  clogged,  prevent- 
ing the  penetration  of  the  blast,  and  causing  it 
to  find  vent  beneath  the  tympe  arch,  projecting 
out  portions  of  red  hot  cinder. 

The  slow  descent  of  charges  occasioned  the 
refining  of  some  of  the  cast  iron  on  the  slope 
of  the  boshes,  deranging,  in  some  degree,  the 
working  of  the  furnace.  The  cinders  changed 
color  in  proportion  to  the  unreduced  iron  re- 
tained in  them.  The  metal  had  no  longer  the 
same  beautiful  grain  as  at  first,  but  became 
greyish  white,  mixed  and  irregular,  and  sub- 
sequently mottled,  and  white,  as  the  working 
became  worse. 

The   anthracite  was,  after  some  days,  in- 


2Q  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

creased  to  one  half.  A  new  retardation  was 
at  once  perceived ;  cinder  was  thrown  out  not 
only  at  the  tympe,  but  even  at  the  tuyeres. 
These  experiments  were  for  a  time  interrupted 
by  a  fatal  accident,  which  crushed  to  death  a 
workman  in  the  bottom  of  one  of  the  blowing 
cylinders,  and  deranged  the  whole  machinery. 

The  results  hitherto  obtained,  were,  the  pro- 
duction of  foundry  iron  by  anthracite  and  coke 
in  the  proportion  of  one  half  of  each ;  the  hard 
working  of  the  furnace,  the  slow  descent  of 
charges,  the  making  of  about  two  tons  of  iron 
in  twenty-four  hours,  and  the  running  of  good 
cinders  until  the  furnace  became  deranged. 
The  proportion  of  fuel  was  from  three  to  four 
hundred  weight  for  one  hundred  of  pig  metal 
produced. 

The  blowing  machine  having  been  repaired 
and  the  hearth  renewed,  the  furnace  was  again 
put  in  blast  on  the  19th  of  January,  1828. 

The  operations  were  now  commenced  with 
one  half  anthracite  and  one  half  coke,  in  order 
to  continue  the  preceding  experiments.  Ef- 
forts were  made  to  prevent  the  blowing  out  of 


ANTHRACITE  IROJS.  21 

cinders,  the  accumulations  on  the  boshes  and 
the  slow  descent  of  charges.  One,  two,  and 
three  tuyeres  were  successively  used  ;  the  size 
and  position  of  the  nozzles  were  varied,  as 
well  as  the  number  and  proportion  of  charges, 
but  without  the  least  gleam  of  success.  An 
illness  of  some  days  having  detained  Mr. 
Gueymard  from  the  works,  the  anthracite  was 
in  the  mean  time  entirely  suppressed,  and  coke 
only  employed.  In  less  than  four  days  the 
furnace  had  resumed  its  wonted  action,  and 
the  products  became  perfectly  satisfactory,  as 
at  the  beginning. 

After  Mr.  Gueymard's  recovery,  the  course 
of  trials  with  one  tenth,  two  tenths,  &c.  to 
five  tenths  of  anthracite,  were  resumed.  The 
previous  results  were  reproduced,  and  all  the 
expedients  to  overcome  the  evils  were  unavail- 
ing. The  anthracite  burst  and  fell  into  fine 
pieces,  which  choked  the  furnace  and  obstruct- 
ed the  blast.  In  this  state  of  things  the  ex- 
pedient was  adopted  of  charging  the  furnace 
with  raw  instead  of  roasted  mine,  which  had 
the  effect  of  keeping  the  burthen  from  coher- 


22  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

ing,  allowed  freedom  to  the  blast,  and  obviated 
the  projection  of  cinders  from  the  tympe  and 
tuyeres.  The  iron  became  as  good  as  at  first, 
and  equal  to  the  best  English  pig  metal. 

The  proportion  of  anthracite  was  then  in- 
creased to  six  tenths.  The  furnace  still  work- 
ed well,  with  the  exception  that  the  load  came 
down  rather  more  slowly  than  before. 

Seven  tenths  of  anthracite,  gave  the  same 
working  and  the  same  cinder,  but  a  still 
greater  retardation,  and  a  tendency  in  the  pig 
to  a  mottled  complexion.  The  charges  were 
next  carried  to  eight  tenths  anthracite.  The 
pig  became  entirely  mottled  or  white,  for  eight 
days,  during  which  this  rate  of  charging  was 
continued.  The  action  was  yet  more  sluggish 
than  before,  but  as  the  working  was  still  easy, 
they  proceeded  to  nine  tenths  of  anthracite 
and  only  one  tenth  of  coke.  Two  days  after 
this  proportion  was  adopted,  the  projection  of 
cinder  recommenced,  as  well  as  the  lodge- 
ments on  the  boshes,  and  a  chilling  in  the 
hearth,  which  made  alarming  progress.  Eight 
days  were  likewise  consumed  in  determining 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  23 

the  effect  of  this  mixture.  The  force  of  blast, 
number  of  tuyeres,  size  of  nozzles,  &c.  were 
varied,  but  no  other  than  white  metal  could 
be  obtained,  and  even  that  ran  very  stiff  and 
pasty. 

As  the  committee  of  proprietors  in  Paris 
wished  to  have  the  experiments  pushed  to  the 
utmost,  M.  Gueymard  finally  ordered  the  fur- 
nace to  be  charged  with  anthracite  alone. 
From  the  moment  this  was  done,  the  tuyeres 
became  and  continued  black ;  the  cinder  was 
surcharged  with  iron,  no  casting  could  be  ob- 
tained ;  the  metal  half  refined  into  malleable 
iron,  stuck  fast  in  the  hearth.  It  was  white 
semi-ductile,  and  had  all  the  characters  of  "fine 
metal" 

On  returning  to  seven  tenths  anthracite,  the 
going  of  the  furnace  was  soon  re-established, 
and  the  charges  were  kept  down  to  within 
thirty  or  thirty-one  feet  of  the  bottom  of  the 
hearth. 

The  coming  down  of  the  charges  was  not, 
however,  accelerated.  The  pig  became  mot- 
tled, and  the  working  hard.  Hence  it  is  in- 


24  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

ferred,  that  a  lower  furnace  would  not  solve 
the  problem. 

When  the  furnace  was  driven  with  coke 
only,  the  manometer  gauge  of  the  blast  stood 
at  3.15  to  3.54  inches  of  mercury,  indicating 
from  1.5  to  1.75  pounds  per  square  inch. 

When  the  charge  was  seven  tenths  anthra- 
cite and  three  tenths  coke,  it  required  from 
2.95  to  3.15  pounds  of  pressure  for  grey  iron, 
2.75  for  mottled,  and  2.56  for  white. 

With  a  higher  proportion  of  anthracite,  the 
pressure  required  was  about  four  pounds  per 
square  inch. 

With  pure  coke,  the  number  of  charges  was 
from  40  to  42  in  24  hours. 

With  one  half  anthracite,  the  number  of 
charges  was  reduced  to  25  per  day.  With 
seven  tenths  but  20,  and  with  anthracite  alone, 
but  six  per  day  could  be  passed. 

From  the  above  statements  it  will  be  seen, 
that,  whatever  can  be  expected  from  anthra- 
cite of  the  kind  there  used,  when  burned  by 
means  of  cold  blast,  was  probably  realized  in 
the  experiments  at  Vizille.  It  is  certainly 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  25 

possible  that,  in  our  Pennsylvania  anthracite 
fields,  passing,  as  they  are  known  to  do  by 
slow  degrees,  from  the  extreme  dryness  of  the 
most  compact  anthracite,  at  one  end  of  the 
coal  trough,  to  a  decidedly  bituminous  coal, 
with  from  12  to  18  per  cent,  of  volatile  matter 
at  the  other,  we  may  find  some  intermediate 
varieties  to  which  the  cold  blast  may  be  found 
applicable  for  the  smelting  of  iron,  though  the 
coal  be  not  susceptible  of  coking,  and  therefore 
belongs  to  the  class  of  anthracites.  Yet  the 
general  character  of  this  class  is  so  well  repre- 
sented by  the  kind  used  at  Vizille,  that  it  ap- 
pears unreasonable  to  expect  any  other  result 
than  that  to  which  the  French  experiments 
conducted.  In  those  parts  of  the  same  coal- 
fields where  the  bituminous  nature  of  the  min- 
eral is  fully  established,  there  seems  to  be  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  the  cold-blast  and  raw- 
coal  system  of  Dowlas  and  other  Welsh  iron- 
works, may  be  found  entirely  applicable.  But 
the  French  experiments,  as  well  as  those  pre- 
viously and  subsequently  made  in  Wales,  to- 
gether with  those  which  were  undertaken  at 

3 


26  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

Mauch  Chunck  and  at  Pottsville,  before  the 
application  of  Dr.  Geisenheimer's  improve- 
ment, are  salutary  cautions  to  persons  who 
may  be  inclined  to  attempt  the  smelting  of 
iron  by  true  anthracite  and  cold-blast. 

Having,  in  the  preceding  pages,  referred  in 
general  terms  to  the  efforts  made  to  introduce 
the  use  of  anthracite  in  the  blast  furnace,  we 
may  pass  to  a  more  detailed  description  of 
those  establishments  which  have  been  erected 
in  the  United  States  for  manufacturing  iron 
by  the  method  in  question.  For  the  greater 
facility  of  comparison,  it  has  been  thought  best 
to  convey  this  information  in  the  form  of  a 
Synoptical  Table. 

It  will  be  perceived  that,  at  three  of  the  es- 
tablishments, viz.,  Mauch  Chunk,  Montour 
No.  2,  and  Shamokin,  the  columns  devoted  to 
the  weekly  supply  of  materials  are  in  blank"; 
the  first,  because  it  had  ceased  to  operate  at 
the  time  the  other  data  relating  to  it  were  pro- 
cured, and  the  records  of  its  daily  action  could 
not  be  obtained,  and  the  other  two  had  not 
then  gone  into  blast.  Of  these,  therefore,  only 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  27 

those  columns  which  relate  to  the  construction 
are  filled.  In  regard  to  the  other  establish- 
ments, the  observations,  which  would  properly 
constitute  the  last  column  of  the  table,  are, 
from  the  necessities  imposed  by  mechanical 
arrangements,  thrown  into  separate  sections 
in  subsequent  pages.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
mention  that,  in  obtaining  the  column  of 
weekly  supply  of  materials,  the  records  of 
daily  working,  for  a  month  or  more,  have  in 
some  cases  been  taken  ;  while  in  others,  it  has 
been  derived,  by  calculation,  from  the  number 
and  proportion  of  charges.  Of  the  former,  the 
Roaring  Creek,  Phoenixville  and  Columbia  fur- 
naces, (Nos.  3,  4  and  7,)  are  examples.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that,  after  a  more  prolonged  ac- 
tion shall  have  brought  each  of  these  establish- 
ments to  a  uniform  rate  of  working,  we  shall 
be  able  to  substitute,  for  the  numbers  here 
given,  such  as  shall  require  no  deductions  on 
account  of  the  occasional  daily  variations  in 
the  coming  down  of  charges. 

The  following  is  a  tabular  view  of  the  blast 
furnaces,  applied  to  the  manufacture  of  iron 
with  the  anthracite  of  Pennsylvania. 


28 


ANTHRACITE  IRON. 


TABLE  I. 


H    Name  and 
£    situation  of 

0 

£      Furnace. 
*; 

Name  of 
Proprietor. 

Name  of 
Occupant. 

When 
built. 

Date  of 
com- 
mencing 
Blast 
with  an- 
thracite. 

Dimensions  of 
Stack  in  feet. 

«g| 

££ 

i 

1i 

ill 

11 

33 

Qcq 

of    =3 

feet. 

feet. 

feet. 

feet. 

.    (  Mauch- 
1  |  Chunk. 

Baughman,           ) 
Guiteau,«fcCo.  } 

The  Owners 

1838.... 

Aug.  27, 

1838. 

|» 

21J 

51 

1&. 

2  Pottsville.... 

(  Marshall,  Kel- 
\      logg,  &  Co. 

Ditto  

1838.... 

July  10, 

1839. 

1  30 

35 

8^ 

31... 

?  (  Roaring 
3  |  Creek. 

Burd  Patterson, 
&Co. 

Dr.  Stein-    ) 
berger.  \ 

1838-9.. 

May  18, 
1840. 

30 

30 

8^ 



4  Phcenixville. 

Messrs.  Reeves.... 

The  Owners 

1837.... 

June  17, 

1840. 

jse 

33 

8 

3by6| 

5  Danville  

5  Biddle,  Cham- 
j      bers,  &  Co. 

Ditto  

1838-9.. 

April, 
1840 

J30 

30 

n 

(  Crane  Iron 

•\ 

P   i  Works, 
b  )  near  Al- 

>  Crane  Iron  Co. 

Ditto  

1839-40. 

.July  4 

1840. 

|30 

40 

12 

31.., 

*  lentown. 

) 

(  Columbia 

^ 

(  Messrs.    ) 

7  <  at  Dan- 

>  George  Patterson 

)j.P.&J.J 

1839.... 

July  2 

1840 

30 

33 

81 

31... 

(  ville. 

) 

(  Groves.   ) 

) 

(  Montourat 
8  <  Danville 
(No.  1. 

)  Biddle,  Cham- 
J     bers,  &.  Co. 

The  Owners 

1840.... 

July  11 

1841. 

|* 

32 

12 

4.... 

9  Ditto,  No.  2. 

Ditto  

Ditto  

1840.  .  .  . 

August 
1841. 

J3V 

32 

12 

4.... 

10  Shamokin  .  . 

Shamokin  Iron  Co. 

Ditto  

1840  



40 

421 

12 

4.... 

11  } 

12  f  Stanhope, 
13   (     N.  J. 

!  Stanhope  IronCo. 

Ditto  

1840-1.. 

.Aprils 
1841. 

J3» 

30 

10 

31... 

14   ) 

ANTHRACITE   IRON. 


29 


Materials  and  yield  per 
week,  in  tons. 

Number  and  proportion  of 
charges  in  24  hourg. 

Air  supplied  to  the  Furnace. 

S 

1 

1 

"3  T3 

I.I 

c 
|| 

«j 
2! 

1 

^1    §jj..g 

4Ja 
1^ 

1! 

k. 

2 
0 

s 
•< 

G 

•S"2 

—  =. 

S2 
fc-g 

2 

O 

B 
< 

'3 

1& 

£si 

11 

1  -still 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

degs. 

tons. 







8... 



"ioo" 





..700. 

..2... 

..450. 

..21.6 

..2 

68.7. 

31.2. 

31.2. 

28.  $ 

* 

..20.. 

scrap 
iron  and 

^500. 

..500. 

•3769. 

..1.5. 

..600. 

..3 

100  ore 

) 

84... 

56... 

21... 

40... 

..28.. 

960.. 

..600. 

..254. 

.2400. 

..2.5. 

..650. 

..20|. 

..3 

73... 

59... 

24.1. 

28... 

..31J. 

740.. 

..600. 

.  .245. 

.1732. 

..1.5. 

..700. 

..20.8 

..3 

70.3. 

46.8. 

35... 

35... 

..25.. 

900.. 

..700. 

..448. 

.2414. 

..2.75 

..600. 

..23.2 

..2 

104... 

69.3. 

52... 

50... 

..66.. 

504.. 

..336. 

..252. 

.5065. 

..2.5. 

..600. 

..34.. 

..3 

93.4. 

81.3. 

64.15 

31.5. 

..28.. 

1200.. 

.1050. 

..800. 

.1861. 

..3... 

..612. 

..20.4 

..3 

154... 

108... 

61.6. 

70... 

..44.. 

1120.. 

..784. 

..448. 

.5026. 

..4... 

..612. 

..24.8 

..3 

112.6. 

80.9. 

34.68 

56... 

..37.. 

.975.. 

..700. 

-.300. 

.4071. 

..3... 

..600. 

..25.. 

..3 

30 


ANTHRACITE   IRON. 


TABLE   I. 


No.  of  Furnace. 

Name  and 
situation  of 
Furnace. 

Blowing  Machinery. 

Water  power  employed. 

MJN 

SM 

III 

Diameter 
of 
cylinders. 

Length 
of  stroke. 

Number  ot 
strokes  per 
minute. 

Height  of 
wheel. 

Length  of 
buckets. 

f.1 

Revolu- 
tions per 
minute. 

Head  and 
fall  in  feet. 

Horse 
powers  of 
wheel. 

3 
4 

5 

(i 
7 

10 
11 
12 
13 

11 

(  Mauch- 
|  Chunk. 

Pottsville.  .  . 

.2.. 
.2.. 

nches 
..72.. 

..40.. 

nches 
..11.. 

72.. 

.13*.. 
18  .. 

feet. 
.14... 

feet. 

inches 

..8... 

.13*.. 

.17. 



(  Roaring 
I  Creek. 

Phcenixville. 

.... 

j.... 

...2.. 

..44.. 
..42.. 
..40.. 

.  60.. 

..48.. 
..42.. 

.11.4. 
.11.25 
.20... 

.20... 
.12.25 

..8... 
..8... 

.12... 
.10... 

..5.7. 
.11*.. 

.21. 
.14. 

.29.4. 
.15.1 

!  Crane  Iron 
Works, 
near  Al- 
lentown. 
f  Columbia 
?  at  Dan- 
(  ville. 
f  Montour  at 
?  Danville, 
(  No.  1.     ' 

Ditto,  No.  2. 
Shamokin  . 

.2.. 
.2.. 

..GO.. 
..32.. 

.  .72.  . 
..64.. 

.10.75 

.151.. 

.12... 

.25... 

.21... 

.,.. 

..8. 

:64.5. 

.4.. 
4 

..40.. 
40 

..72.. 

72 

.16... 









.... 



...2.. 

..62. 

..72 

f  Stanhope, 
>     N.  J. 

j*. 

..72.. 

..72.. 

...13. 

.20... 

..8... 



.21*.. 

.... 



ANTHRACITE   IRON. 


31 


CONTINUED. 


Steam  power  employed. 

Subsidiary 
Fuel. 

Nature  of  ores  used. 

1 

|| 

jfj 

Number 
of  boilers. 

Length 
of  boilers. 

Diameter 
of  hoijern. 

!?£ 

•a 
2 
a      ^ 

HI 

L* 

50   <U  *C 

III 

iiii 

>,  s 

f  =  2 

•I 

ll 

inches 

feet. 

feet. 

inch 

Ibs. 

tons. 

cwt. 

Hematite  and           ? 
magnelic  of  N.  J.     $ 

Carbonate  and         > 
hematite.                   J 
Possiliferous  perox-  > 
ide  of  Bloomsbuxg.   J 

Hydrated  peroxide.... 

Calcareous  perox-   > 
ide  of  Danville.         J 

40  to  70 
25  to  50 
50  to  64 
38  to  50 
45  to  60 

..15.. 

.6.. 

..18.. 

.8.". 

.20. 

.30. 

J25.. 

..80.. 



..12.. 

.4.. 

..30.. 

.4.. 

•20. 

.30. 

.100.. 

..40.. 

..4... 

...4..J 

5  A 

Hydrated  peroxide  ) 
near  the  works.        J 

Calcareous,  fossili-  > 
ferous  peroxide.       ) 

40  to  55 
45  to  60 

..12.. 

.34. 

..25.. 

.4.. 

.20. 

.30. 

.100.. 

..40.. 

..*. 

I 

•••>••! 

..24.. 

.6.. 

..16.. 

.8.. 

.20. 

.30. 

..60.. 

..90.. 



......  | 

Fossil  calcareous,    > 
&  silicious  peroxide.  $ 

33  to  60 

..24.. 
..22.. 

•6.. 
.6.. 

..20.. 

.8.. 
10.. 

.20. 
.30. 

.30. 
.30. 

..60.. 
..70.. 

..90.. 
.160.. 



::::::y 

Carbonate  &  Dan-   * 
ville  fogsiliferous.      $ 

Magnetic  of             > 
Irondale.                  J 

33  to  60 
33  to  60 

50  to  70 

I 

1  ' 

32  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

Remarks  on  the  preceding  Table. 
1.  MAUCH  CHUNK  FURNACE. 

The  furnace  at  Mauch  Chunk,  which  stands 
at  the  head  of  the  preceding  table,  is  believed 
to  have  been  the  first  in  this  country,  at  which 
any  considerable  success  was  attained  in  the 
smelting  of  iron  with  anthracite.*  The  iron 

*  Mr.  Crane's  patent  in  this  country,  bears  date  No- 
vember 29,  1838.  The  Mauch  Chunk  furnace  went 
into  blast  for  the  second  time,  about  the  same  day.  The 
operations  at  Pottsville  were  commenced  July  10,  1839. 
But  the  trial  of  three  months'  continuance,  began  about 
the  20th  of  October,  1839,  and  its  completion  was  cele- 
brated on  the  18th  of  January,  1840.  The  blast  of  100 
days,  terminated  at  Mauch  Chunk,  November  2d,  1839. 
The  following  letter  shows  the  period  at  which  Messrs. 
Baughman,  Guiteau  &  Co.  commenced  their  works  — 
with  other  particulars  worthy  of  notice. 

Beaver  Meadow,  November  9,  1840. 
SIR, 

Agreeable  to  a  request  of  Col.  Henry  High,  of  Read- 
ing, I  send  you  the  following  hastily  written  statement 
of  the  experiments  made  by  Boughman,  Guitean  &  Co., 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  33 

produced  was  of  various,  but  mostly  inferior 
qualities,  owing  probably  to   a  deficiency  of 

in  the  smelting  of  iron  ore,  with  anthracite  coal  as  a 
fuel. 

During  the  fall  and  winter  of  the  year  1837,  Messrs. 
Joseph  Baughman,  Julius  Guiteau,  and  Henry  High,  of 
Reading,  made  their  first  experiment  in  smelting  iron 
ore  with  anthracite  coal,  in  an  old  furnace  at  Mauch 
Chunk,  temporarily  fitted  up  for  the  purpose  ;  they  used 
about  eighty  per  cent,  of  anthracite,  and  the  result  was 
such  as  to  surprise  those  who  witnessed  -it  (for  it  was 
considered  as  an  impossibility  even  by  iron  masters) ; 
and  to  encourage  the  persons  engaged  in  it,  to  go  on. 
In  order,  therefore,  to  test  the  matter  more  thoroughly, 
they  built  a  furnace  on  a  small  scale,  near  the  Mauch 
Chunk  Weigh  Lock,  which  was  completed  during  the 
month  of  July,  1838. 

Dimensions. 

Stack,  21  1-2  feet  high,  22  feet  square  at  the  base. 

Boshes,  51-2  feet  across. 

Hearth,  14  by  16  inches  in  the  square,  and  4  feet  9 
inches  from  the  dam  stone  to  the  back. 

Blowing  apparatus  consisted  of  two  cylinders,  each  6 
feet  diameter ;  a  receiver,  same  diameter,  and  about 
2  1-2  feet  deep  ;  stroke,  11  inches.  Each  piston  making 
from  12  to  15  strokes  per  minute. 


34  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

blast.     The  blowing  cylinders   are  of  wood, 
(single  acting)  and  at  the  speed  employed  did 

An  overshot  water  wheel,  diameter  14  feet ;  length  of 
bucket  3  1-2  feet ;  number  of  buckets,  36 ;  revolutions 
per  minute,  from  12  to  15. 

The  blas,t  was  applied  August  27th,  and  the  furnace 
kept  in  blast  until  September  10th,  when  they  were 
obliged  to  stop  in  consequence  of  the  apparatus  for  heat- 
ing the  blast  proving  to  be  too  temporary.  Several  tons 
of  iron  were  produced  of  Nos,  2  and  3  quality.  I  do 
not  recollect  the  proportion  of  anthracite  used.  Tem- 
perature of  the  blast  did  not  exceed  200°  Fahrenheit, 

A  new  and  good  apparatus  for  heating  the  blast  was 
next  procured,  (it  was  at  this  time  I  became  a  partner 
in  the  firm  of  B.,  G.  &  Co,)  consisting  of  200  feet  in 
length,  of  cast  iron  pipes,  1  1-2  inches  thick  ;  it  was 
placed  in  a  brick  chamber,  at  the  trunnel  head,  and 
heated  by  a  flame  issuing  thence. 

The  blast  was  again  applied  about  the  last  of  Novem- 
ber, 1838,  and  the  furnace  worked  remarkably  well  for 
five  weeks,  exclusively  with  anthracite  coal ;  we  were 
obliged,  however,  for  want  of  ore,  to  blow  out  on  the 
12th  of  January,  1839.  During  this  experiment,  our 
doors  were  open  to  the  public,  and  we  were  watched 
very  closely  both  day  and  night,  for  men  could  hardly 
believe  what  they  saw  with  their  own  eyes,  so  incredu- 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  35 

not  furnish  over  700  cubic  feet  of  air  per  min- 
ute. Their  apparatus  for  hot  blast  was  at  first 

lous  was  the  public  in  regard  to  the  matter  at  that  time  ; 
some  iron  masters  expressed  themselves  astonished,  that 
a  furnace  could  work  whilst  using  unburnt,  unwashed, 
frozen  ore,  such  as  was  put  into  our  furnace. 

The  amount  of  iron  produced,  was  about  1  ]-2  tons 
per  day,  when  working  best,  of  Nos.  1,  2,  and  3  quality. 

The  average  temperature  of  the  blast  was  400°  Fah- 
renheit. 

The  following  season  we  enlarged  the  hearth  to  19 
by  21  inches,  and  5  feet  3  inches  from  the  dam  stone  to 
the  back  of  hearth  ;  and  on  July  26th,  the  furnace  was 
again  put  in  blast,  and  continued  in  blast  until  Novem- 
ber 2d,  1839,  a  few  days  after  the  dissolution  of  our 
firm,  when  it  was  blown  out  in  good  order.  For  about 
three  months  we  used  no  other  fuel  than  anthracite,  and 
produced  about  100  tons  of  iron,  of  good  Nos.  1,  2, 
and  3  quality.  When  working  best,  the  furnace  pro- 
duced about  2  tons  per  day.  Temperature  of  the  blast 
was  from  400°  to  600°  Fahrenheit.  The  following  ores 
were  used  by  us,  viz.  "  Pipe  ore,"  from  Miller's  mine, 
a  few  miles  from  Allentown  ;  "  brown  hematite,"  com- 
monly called  top  mine,  or  surface  ore  ;  "  rock  ore," 
from  Dickerson's  mine  in  New  Jersey;  and  "  Williams 
township  ore,"  in  Northampton  county.  The  last  men- 


36  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

defective,  and  was  afterwards  placed  at  the 
trunnel  head,  where  it  could  not  be  so  well 

tioned  ore  produced  a  very  strong  iron,  and  most  beau- 
tiful cinder. 

The  above  experiments  were  prosecuted  under  the 
most  discouraging  circumstances,  and  if  we  gain  any 
thing  by  it,  it  can  only  be  the  credit  of  acting  the  part  of 
pioneers  in  a  praiseworthy  undertaking. 
Most  respectfully,  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

F.  C.  LOWTHORP. 
PROF.  WALTER  R.  JOHNSON,  Philadelphia. 

It  is  proper  to  mention  that  the  first  account  which 
reached  this  country  relative  to  the  operations  of  Mr. 
Crane,  in  manufacturing  iron  with  anthracite  in  Wales, 
was  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Liverpool  meeting  of  the 
British  Association,  for  the  year  1837.  That  meeting  was 
held  in  September  of  that  year,  and  the  statement  con- 
tained in  the  6th  volume  of  the  proceedings  of  that  body, 
page  52,  (transactions  of  sections)  is,  that  his  operations 
were  commenced  with  hot  air,  on  the  7th  of  Feb.,  1837. 
The  following  extracts  are  perhaps  sufficient  to  convey 
a  knowledge  of  the  most  important  results  then  obtained. 

"  One  of  the  three  furnaces  at  present  on  the  estab- 
lishment, is  a  small  cupola  furnace,  built  from  the  top 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  37 

regulated  as   if  arranged  in  separate  ovens, 
with  an  independent  fire.     Hence,    even  of 

i 

of  the  hearth  with  fire  bricks  only.  This  cupola  is  of 
the  following  dimensions ;  41  feet  in  its  whole  height, 
10  1-2  feet  across  the  boshes,  and  the  walls  of  the  thick- 
ness of  two  nine-inch  bricks ;  the  hearth  3  feet  6  inches 
square  and  5  feet  deep."  "  I  have  produced,  from  the 
cupola  furnace,  the  ton  of  iron  in  the  smelting  process, 
on  the  average  of  three  months,  with  less  than  27  cwt. 
of  anthracite  coal ;  the  heating  of  the  blast  and  the  cal- 
cination of  the  mine,  require,  of  course,  upon  my  plan, 
the  same  quantity  of  fuel  which  is  necessary  for  the  like 
processes  in  other  establishments."  "  Since  I  have 
adopted  the  use  of  anthracite  coal,  combined  with  hot 
air,  the  produce  of  the  furnace,  with  a  pressure  of  1  1-4 
pounds  per  square  inch,  has  ranged  from  30  to  34  and 
36  tons."  "  Its  present  weekly  average  may  be  ex- 
pected to  range  from  35  to  36  tons."  "  With  respect 
to  the  quality  of  the  iron  produced  by  the  combination 
of  hot  blast  and  anthracite,  the  result  is  very  satisfactory. 
It  is  well  known  that  my  cold  blast  iron,  for  all  pur- 
poses where  great  strength  was  required,  was  never 
deemed  inferior  to  any  smelted  in  South  Wales.  That 
which  I  have  hitherto  produced  with  hot  blast  and 
anthracite  coal,  is,  however,  decidedly  stronger  than  any 
other  before  smelted  at  the  Yngscedwin  iron  works." 
4 


38  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

the  limited  supply  of  air  taken  into  the  bel- 
lows, a  considerable  portion  must  have  been 
lost  by  leakage,  and  by  escapes  at  the  open 
tuyeres  then  applied. 


2.  POTTSVILLE  FURNACE. 

The  Pottsville  furnace  is  the  same  with 
which  Mr.  William  Lyman  made  his  experi- 
ments, which  commenced  at  the  date  men- 
tioned in  the  table.  The  continuous  blast  of 
three  months,  required  by  the  conditions  under 
which  he  received  this  furnace  property,  was 
completed  in  January,  1840.  Since  that  pe- 
riod several  occurrences  have  conspired  to 
disturb  the  regularity  of  action  in  this  estab- 
lishment. At  one  time  an  attempt  was  made 
to  heat  the  air  in  close  furnaces,  throwing  it, 
in  part,  through,  and  in  part  over,  the  fire,  which 
heated  the  blast,  and  thus  sending  in  the 
gaseous  products  of  combustion,  as  well  as  at- 
mospheric air,  to  supply  the  furnace.  This  at- 
tempt failed,  either  because  carbonic  acid, 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  39 

nitrogen  and  sulphurous  acid  gas  interfered  too 
much  with  the  combustion  of  the  oxygen  in 
that  portion  of  air  which  had  escaped  the  ac- 
tion of  the  heating  fire,  or  because  the  cases 
or  furnaces  in  which  the  air-heating  fires  were 
contained,  proved  inadequate  to  sustain  the 
pressure,  and  thus  supplied  an  insufficient 
quantity  of  the  mixture  to  give  a  vigorous  and 
powerful  reducing  heat  at  a  proper  height 
above  the  hearth. 

This  apparatus  was  used  but  for  a  short 
time,  and  when  blown  out,  to  re-establish  the 
semicircular-tube  system,  the  hearth  was  found 
greatly  enlarged,  as  might  have  been  inferred 
from  the  black,  heavy,  though  porous  cinder 
which  was  the  only  kind  obtained  during  the 
time  this  apparatus  was  in  use.  In  fact,  it 
appears  that  the  unreduced  oxide  of  iron  came 
down  and  served  as  a  flux  to  the  hearth  stone ;  a 
result  which  I  have  often  known  to  occur  where 
a  deficient  blast  allowed  any  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  ore  to  escape  reduction.  Pure  pig 
metal,  when  fairly  collected  in  the  hearth,  has 
no  action  on  good  fire-stone  or  fire-brick,  any 


40  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

more  than  has  the  well-reduced  vitreous  cin- 
der, which  ought  to  accompany  the  production 
of  good  foundry  iron. 

Besides  the  difficulties  attending'  the  air- 
heating  apparatus,  which  has  again  given  way, 
the  Pottsville  furnace  has  been  supplied  with 
ores  of  almost  every  variety,  mixed,  or  used 
separately  without  proper  discrimination,  and 
sometimes,  it  is  alleged,  the  stock  has  become 
nearly  or  quite  exhausted,  leaving  the  works 
to  go  on  without  any  addition  of  ore  for  hours 
together.  It  is  not  surprising  that,  under  these 
circumstances,  iron  of  very  different  qualities 
should  be  produced,  and  that  this  furnace 
should,  with  all  its  advantages  of  being  situ- 
ated amidst  the  greatest  abundance  of  anthra- 
cite, be  able  to  render  a  less  satisfactory  result 
of  the  anthracite  iron  manufacture  than  those 
which  have  fewer  apparent  advantages.* 

4) 

*  A  second  furnace  near  Pottsville,  called  the  Valley 
Furnace,  was  put  into  blast  September  17,  1841,  and  is 
represented  to  have  succeeded  admirably  from  the  first 
moment  of  its  action.  It  uses  only  the  ore  found  upon 
the  ground  in  connexion  with  the  anthracite  beds. 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  41 

The  iron  recently  made  at  Pottsville  has 
been  cast  from  a  cupola  either  into  T  rails,  for 
mine  roads,  or  into  cannon  balls  for  the  gov- 
ernment. That  it  is  of  good  quality  for  the 
former  purpose  I  had  an  opportunity,  through 
the  kindness  of  the  proprietor,  of  testing  by 
actual  experiment.  A  rail  was  taken  at  ran- 
dom from  a  large  pile,  recently  cast,  and  sub- 
jected to  the  following  test : 

The  rail  was  6  feet  long,  and  had  the  form 
of  cross  section,  represented  in  the  annexed 
figure,  containing  in  its  area  3. 1  square  inches. 
It  had  at  each  end,  for  about  3  inches,  along 
the  base,  wings  or  flanges  for  securing  it  to  the 
cross-ties,  as  represented  by  the  dotted  lines 
X  and  Y,  and  in  the  middle  of  its  length  sim- 
ilar wings,  6  inches  long,  or  3  inches  on  each 
side  of  the  centre.  The  rail  weighed  66  Ibs., 
or  33  Ibs.  per  yard.  To  prove  its  flexibility 
and  strength,  its  two  extremities  were  placed 
on  supports  5  feet  9  inches  apart,  and  of  such 
height  as  to  allow  of  the  suspension  of  weights 
beneath  the  centre  of  the  bar.  A  strong  stir- 
rup was  passed  over  the  rail,  before  placing 


ANTHRACITE  IRON. 


the  latter  on  its  supports,  and  carried  to  the 
centre.     To  this,  the  chains  supporting  the 


weights   were   attached.      A   straight-edged, 

broad  ruler  was  adjusted  beneath  the  rail,  from 

which  the  deflections  could  be  easily  measured. 

The  following  weights  were  then  added  and 

^observations  made :  — 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  43 

1.  With  320  Ibs.  (including,   of  course,   the 
chains  and  stirrup,)  a  deflection  of  0.02  inch. 

2.  With  1040  Ibs.  "  0.20    " 

3.  "  2000  "  "  0.37    " 

4.  "  2525  "  "  0.50    " 

5.  "  3000  "  broke. 
This  last  weight  was   sustained   about  4 

minutes  before  the  rail  gave  way. 

The  fracture  took  place  just  outside  of  the 
wing  already  mentioned,  and,  of  course,  3 
inches  from  the  centre.  Hence  the  strength- 
ening effect  of  the  wing  was  proved,  and  led 
me  to  recommend  a  pattern,  in  which  the 
wings  should  extend  the  whole  length  of  the 
rail. 

Another  rail,  intended  to  sustain  locomo- 
tives, made  of  the  same  iron,  and  on  a  pattern 
entirely  similar  to  the  first,  was  also  partially 
tested,  but  not  broken. 

It  had  the  following  dimensions,  viz. 

Length,  6  feet ; 

Depth,  4  inches ; 

Breadth  at  top,        2.5  inches  ; 
Do.      at  bottom,  2.5       " 
Do.      ofrnid-rib,  1.25     " 


44  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

Weight,  134  Ibs.,  or  67  Ibs.  per  yard  ;  con- 
sequently its  area  of  cross  section  was  almost 
exactly  double  that  of  the  first  rail. 

This  rail  having  been  placed  on  the  two 
supports,  at  the  same  distance  apart  as  in  the 
first  trial,  weights  were  applied  and  deflections 
observed  as  follows,  viz. 

1000  Ibs.  produced  a  deflection  of  0.08  inch. 
2000    "          "  "  0.15    " 

3000    "          "  "  0.20    " 

4000    "          "  "  0.26    " 

4500    "          "  "  0.28    " 

After  this  weight  had  been  applied,  the  ar- 
rangement of  props  to  preserve  the  supports 
erect  gave  way,  and  time  not  allowing  a  repe- 
tition of  the  trials,  they  were  given  over  for 
the  present,  having,  as  was  believed,  satisfac- 
torily proved  that  a  rail  made  of  this  iron,  of 
the  dimensions  above  tested,  would,  when 
supported  both  at  the  ends  and  centre,  be  ad- 
equate to  sustain  the  weight  of  any  locomotive 
now  in  use.  The  strength,  when  supported 
in  the  middle  as  well  as  at  the  ends,  being 
double  of  what  it  is  when  supported  at  the 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  45 

•"» 

ends  alone,  if  we  take  the  strength  of  the  first 
rail  as  a  standard,  and  compare  the  breadths 
and  squares  of  the  depths  of  the  two  cross  sec- 
tions together,  we  shall  find,  that,  so  far  from 
having  reached  the  ultimate  strength  of  the 
large  rail,  with  a  weight  of  4500  Ibs.  on  a 
length  of  69  inches,  the  latter  would  have  re- 
quired 12,158  Ibs.  to  break  it.  Placed  on 
cross  ties  3  feet  apart,  the  larger  rail  ought  to 
bear  about  12  tons  as  its  ultimate  load. 


3.  ROARING  CREEK  FURNACE. 

The  Roaring  Creek  Furnace  stands  about 
one  fourth  of  a  mile  up  the  creek,  above  its 
mouth,  which  is  in  the  north  branch  of  the 
Susquehannah,  three  miles  below  the  town  of 
Catawissa,  and  five  miles  above  Danville. 

The  reason  of  selecting  this  position,  was  in 
order  to  take  advantage  of  the  valuable  water 
power  of  this  stream,  which,  in  the  course  of  a 
mile  or  a  little  more,  has  a  fall  of  not  less  than 
fifty  feet.  It  is,  however,  not  altogether  free 


46  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

from  objection,  on  account  of  the  occasional 
failure  of  water  in  dry  seasons. 

The  ore  is  the  rich  fossiliferous  kind,  from 
the  neighborhood  of  Bloomsburg,  distant  about 
six  or  seven  miles,  and  the  limestone  is  also 
brought  from  the  north  side  of  the  river,  a  dis- 
tance of  two  or  three  miles.  The  coal  is  from 
Wilkesbarre,  distant  about  forty  miles,  by  the 
line  of  the  North  Branch  canal.  The  water 
wheel  appears  to  me  to  fulfil  its  purpose  but 
imperfectly,  and  the  machinery  to  move  with 
considerable  irregularity,  owing  in  part  to  the 
want  of  counterpoises  to  the  cranks  and  con- 
necting rods  of  the  blowing  cylinders,  which 
are  laid  horizontally ;  thus  adding  half  the 
weight  of  the  two  long  connecting  rods  and 
that  of  the  two  heavy  cast  iron  cranks,  to  the 
regular  resistance  of  the  air  in  the  cylinders, 
and  by  so  much  increasing  for  the  moment  the 
quantity  of  work  to  be  done  by  the  water 
wheel ;  and  on  the  opposite  part  of  the  revo- 
lutions, the  contrary  effect  takes  place,  to  an 
extent  which  becomes  very  sensible  in  the 
movements  of  machinery,  as  well  as  in  the 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  47 

intensity  of  the  blast.  The  heating  of  the 
blast  is  effected  on  the  plan  of  the  Calder 
works. 

The  volume  and  pressure  of  air  for  this  fur- 
nace, given  in  the  table,  was  derived  from  the 
statement  of  the  occupant,  as  that  used  in 
ordinary  times  ;  but  at  the  period  of  my  visit, 
September  12, 1840,  the  lowness  of  the  stream 
caused  a  considerable  reduction  of  volume, 
being  then  only  1672  cubic  feet  per  minute, 
under  a  pressure  of  1.332  pounds  per  square 
inch.  The  yield  was  then  but  35  tons  per 
week,  and  diminishing. 

The  pig  metal  made  at  the  Roaring  Creek 
Furnace  is  of  excellent  quality,  being  generally 
grey  No.  1,  and  exceedingly  well  suited  to 
foundry  purposes.  It  has  also  been  fully 
proved  in  regard  to  its  adaptation  to  the  pur- 
poses of  making  bar  iron,  by  the  Messrs. 
Whitaker,  at  Reading,  who  have,  it  is  said, 
offered  strong  testimony  in  its  favor. 

By  urging  the  furnace  to  its  utmost  with 
burthen,  there  was  obtained  for  a  few  days  a 
yield  equal  to  72  tons  per  week;  but  the 


48  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

metal  was,  of  course,  inferior  in  quality  to  the 
ordinary  product. 

The  cost  of  this  establishment,  independent 
of  the  site,  was  $31,000. 


4.  PHCENIX  FURNACE. 

The  furnace  at  Phoenixville,  situated  twenty- 
five  miles  from  Philadelphia,  directly  on  the 
line  of  the  Schuylkill  navigation,  is  supplied 
with  anthracite  from  Pottsville,  and  with  ore 
from  Yellow  Springs,  which  contains  a  large 
portion  of  silica.  The  pig  metal  is  grey  No. 
2,  moderately  soft,  but  wants  toughness.  Bar 
iron,  manufactured  from  the  pig  of  Phoenixville, 
is  generally  cold  short.  The  burning  out  of 
hot  air  pipes  and  the  destruction  of  hearth- 
stones, consequent,  as  is  believed,  on  a  defi- 
cient blast,  have  been  frequent  causes  of  em- 
barrassment at  these  works.  The  ore  yields 
38.3  per  cent.,  and  about  1  3-4  tons  of  coal  are 
required  to  make  one  ton  of  pig  metal.  The 
cost  of  building  Phoenixville  furnace,  indepen- 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  49 

dent   of    wheel   house    and    dwellings,    was 
$7949.    This  includes  cast  and  bridge  houses. 


5.  DANVILLE  FURNACE. 

The  Danville  works  use  anthracite  from 
Wilkesbarre,  received  by  the  North  Branch 
canal,  and  ore  obtained  within  half  a  mile  of 
the  furnace.  Two  or  three  varieties  of  the 
latter  are  found  within  a  short  distance  of  each 
other.  The  calcareous  fossil iferous  ore  of 
Montour's  ridge,  yielding  from  55  to  64  per 
cent,  of  metallic  iron,  is  the  chief  reliance  of 
the  works ;  but  large  portions  of  the  hard  sili- 
ceous band  ore,  mined  immediately  in  the 
neighborhood,  is  also  extensively  used.  Both 
the  soft  and  hard  beds  probably  underlie  the 
site  of  the  works.  The  pig  metal  is  of  a  dark 
grey  color,  granular  texture,  soft  and  fusible, 
well  adapted  for  foundry  purposes ;  and  rep- 
resented to  be  in  no  respect  inferior  to  the  best 
Scotch  pig.  The  same  remarks  will  apply  to 
the  products  of  furnaces  Nos.  7  and  8. 


50  ANTHRACITE   IRON. 

The  pressure  of  blast  in  this  furnace  is  mea- 
sured and  regulated  by  a  safety  valve,  loaded 
directly  with  weights  to  the  amount  of  2  3-4 
pounds  per  square  inch,  and  under  this  load 
the  air  constantly  escaped  in  moderate  quan- 
tity at  the  time  of  my  visit. 


6.  CRANE  FURNACE.  —  No.  1. 

The  Crane  Iron  works  have  been  erected 
under  the  immediate  direction  of  Mr.  David 
Thomas,  who  had  been  previously  engaged  at 
the  establishment  of  Mr.  Crane,  in  Wales. 
They  are  situated  about  three  miles  from 
Allentown,  on  the  line  of  the  Lehigh  naviga- 
tion. The  volume  of  air  passing  through  the 
bellows,  is  the  quantity  given  in  the  table, 
computed  from  the  known  length  of  stroke 
and  diameter  of  piston,  together  with  the  ob- 
served number  of  strokes  per  minute,  and  it  is 
this  volume,  assumed  to  be  under  the  pressure 
also  noted  in  the  table,  which  I  was  assured 
by  Mr.  Thomas,  was  the  load  on  the  safety 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  5] 

valve  when  examining  the  works.  A  consid- 
erable quantity  of  air  was  escaping  at  the 
safety  valve,  and  a  part  is  used  to  supply  the 
heating  ovens  for  hot  blast,  as  is  also  done  at 
Roaring  Creek  and  elsewhere.  Of  the  econo- 
my of  this  latter  arrangement,  except  where 
very  fine  coal  is  used  for  heating,  I  am  dis- 
posed strongly  to  doubt.  A  single  high  chim- 
ney, with  suitable  register,  to  regulate  the 
draught,  might,  I  apprehend,  be  entirely  equi- 
valent, and  being  self-acting,  would  require  no 
constant  expense  of  power  to  maintain  the 
combustion.  The  water  wheel  was  intended 
to  supply  two  furnaces. 

The  stock  at  this  furnace  is  very  expedi- 
tiously  elevated  from  the  level  of  the  base 
of  the  stack,  by  means  of  water  pumped  up 
by  the  blast  wheel,  into  a  cistern  near  the 
trunnel  head,  and  which  is  thence  allowed  to 
flow  alternately  into  two  boxes  of  suitable  di- 
mensions, suspended  by  a  chain  passing  over 
a  pulley  in  such  a  manner,  that  the  descent  of 
one  box  filled  with  water,  and  bearing  on  its 
cover  the  empty  barrows  for  stock,  elevates 


52  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

the  other  box  now  emptied  of  water,  but  car- 
rying up  the  barrows,  loaded  with  ore,  coal, 
and  limestone. 

The  blast  in  this  establishment  is  heated  in 
four  ovens,  each  having  twelve  arched  tubes  of 
five  inches  interior  diameter,  and  two  inches 
thickness  of  cast  iron.  The  temperature,  when 
tried  in  mj  presence,  was  not  sufficient  to  melt 
lead,  though  it  was  understood  to  be,  in  gene- 
ral, capable  of  producing  that  effect. 

The  ore  chiefly  used  at  this  furnace,  is  the 
hematite  or  hydrated  peroxide  of  iron,  of  which 
about  21-2  tons  are  required  to  make  1  ton 
of  pig  metal.  It  is  used  entirely  in  its  raw 
state.  It  was  stated  to  cost  at  the  works 
$2.25  per  ton.  The  anthracite  is  from  the 
mines  of  the  Lehigh  Coal  Company,  near 
Mauch  Chunk,  of  which  87.5  per  cent,  is 
carbon,  and  5.5  earthy  matter.  A  quantity  of 
the  metal  made  at  this  furnace  has  been  pud- 
dled with  anthracite,  at  Boonton,  New  Jersey, 
and  produced  excellent  fibrous  bar  iron.  It 
was  stated,  that  21  cwt.  of  pig  produced  20 
cwt.  of  puddled  iron,  thus  showing  a  loss  in 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  53 

the  first  process  of  making  bar  iron  of  only 
4.76  per  cent,  and  that  22  1-2  cwt.  made  a 
ton  of  bars,  showing  altogether  a  loss  of  but 
11.11  percent.  The  foundation  of  a  second 
furnace  is  prepared. 


7.   COLUMBIA  FURNACE. 

At  the  Columbia  Furnace,  in  Danville,  an 
attempt  was  at  first  made  to  heat  the  blast  in 
a  chamber  above  the  trunnel  head,  but  the 
pipes  were  soon  burned  away,  and  leaked  to 
such  a  degree  as  to  lose  a  large  portion  of  the 
blast.  The  engine  was,  at  the  same  time,  too 
small  and  deficient  in  power.  A  succession  of 
nozzles  of  different  sizes,  viz.,  11-4,  1  1-2, 
1  3-4,  2,  and  21-2  inches  in  diameter,  was 
tried.  The  greatest  yield  of  iron  during  the 
first  blast,  which  lasted  only  five  weeks,  was 
5  tons  in  24  hours,  and  during  that  time  the 
2-inch  nozzle  was  employed.  When,  after 
this  blast,  the  furnace  was  blown  out,  the 
hearth  and  inwalls  were  found  very  much  cut 


54  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

away,  the  former  being  enlarged  from  3  1-2  to 
5  feet  in  diameter.  The  cinder,  as  usually 
happens  when  similar  destruction  is  going  on, 
was  constantly  black,  and  often  highly  porous. 

The  most  successful  operations  were  per- 
formed while  the  blast  was  most  powerful,  — 
the  cinder  and  pig  metal  being  then  both  su- 
perior to  what  they  were  at  any  other  time. 
The  same  furnace  manager,  Mr.  B.  Perry,  who 
had  the  care  of  the  Pottsville  furnace  during 
its  prize  blast  of  ninety  days'  continuance,  and 
who  likewise  blew  in  the  Roaring  Creek  fur- 
nace, which  succeeded  from  the  first  moment 
of  its  action,  had  charge  of  the  Columbia  fur- 
nace during  the  period  above  referred  to  ;  so 
that  its  want  of  immediate  success  cannot  be 
attributed  to  inexperience  ;  and  as  all  the  ma- 
terials are  essentially  the  same  in  kind  as  those 
used  at  Roaring  Creek,  we  are  compelled  to 
believe  that  want  of  sufficient  blast  was  the 
main  cause  of  the  little  success  which  attended 
the  first  trial  at  this  establishment. 

The  consumption  of  stock  and  yield  of  pig 
metal,  recorded  in  the  table,  were  taken  from 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  55 

the  records  of  the  establishment  for  the  month 
of  May,  1841.     It  will  be  seen  that  the  ore 
required  per  ton  of  pig  was  nearly  3.00  tons  ; 
Anthracite,     -  2.58   " 

Limestone,      -  2.03   " 

Air,  20.4   " 

On  the  27th  of  July,  1841,  the  Columbia 
furnace  was  in  active  operation  and  making 
excellent  grey  foundry  iron,  and  on  that  day  I 
took  the  observations  relative  to  the  volume 
pressure  and  temperature  of  the  blast,  recorded 
in  the  table. 

The  large  proportion  of  anthracite  used  to 
make  a  ton  of  pig,  at  these  works,  was  ac- 
counted for  by  the  proprietors,  by  stating  that 
at  the  time  to  which  these  notes  refer,  they 
were  using  a  considerable  quantity  of  Shamo- 
kin  coal,  which  they  represented  to  be  much 
inferior  to  that  of  Wilkesbarre,  even  alleging 
that  two  tons  of  the  latter  were,  for  all  pur- 
poses at  the  furnace,  equal  to  three  of  the 
former.  The  very  large  proportion  of  lime- 
stone will  also  appear  singular  to  those  who 
reflect  that  the  ore  itself  is  calcareous,  being 


56  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

in  part  derived  from  that  portion  of  the  fossil- 
iferous  bed  which  has  not  been  exposed  to  the 
decomposing  influences  of  the  air.  The  cor- 
rectness of  the  judgment  in  regard  to  the  an- 
thracite of  Shamokin,  will  no  doubt  be,  ere 
long,  put  to  a  full  test  in  the  fine  establish- 
ment No.  10,  of  the  table,  which  is  now  nearly 
completed. 

The  force  of  engines  computed  from  the 
quantity  of  air  furnished  and  the  pressure  un- 
der which  it  is  supplied,  show  that  the  power 
required  at  the  Columbia  is  that  of  29.7  horses.* 

*  Thus  air,  compressed  with  3  Ibs.  per  square  inch,  is 
subjected  to  a  total  pressure  of  18  Ibs.,  or  1  1-5  atmos- 
pheres, or  6-5  atmosphere  ;  and  its  bulk  will  accordingly 
be  5-6  as  great  as  when  only  under  ordinary  atmos- 
pheric pressure.  The  bulk  of  1861  cubic  feet,  supplied 
by  the  machine  in  one  minute,  will  become,  when  com- 
pressed, 1550  cubic  feet.  The  compressing  power  ex- 
pended, before  any  air  escapes  from  the  blowing  cylinder, 
is  very  nearly  one  half  as  great  as  would  be  required  to 
force  out  the  1-6  of  air  after  compression,  which  occu- 
pied the  space  through  which  the  piston  moved  before 
any  began  to  escape  through  the  valve.  Hence  the  to- 
tal mechanical  force  will  be  11-12  of  what  would  be  re- 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  57 


8  and  9.     MONTOUR  FURNACES. 

These  two  furnaces  having  lately  gone  into 
blast,  it  is  not  practicable  to  deduce  from  their 
operations  any  very  certain  results,  as  the  data 
relative  to  the  charging,  yield  and  operation 
of  the  works  were  obtained  on  the  27th  of 
July,  1841,  only  sixteen  days  after  the  first 
was  put  into  blast.  The  second,  (No.  9,)  is 
understood  to  have  been  since  put  into  opera- 
tion, and  both  to  be  performing  well.  The 
pig  metal,  obtained  on  the  day  when  the  es- 
tablishment was  visited,  was  good  grey  No.  1, 

quired  to  expel  the  cylinder  full  if  originally  under  the 
pressure  of  6-5  of  an  atmosphere.  Thus,  11-12  X 
1861  =  1705  cubic  feet,  are  to  be  put  in  motion  under  a 
pressure  of  144  X  3  =  432  pounds  per  square  foot ; 
and  1705X432  =  736,560  pounds  moved  one  foot  or 
raised  one  foot  high  in  a  minute.  Adding  to  this  1-3  for 
friction,  and  dividing  by  33,000,  (the  pounds  raised  one 
foot  high  per  minute,  which  represents  a  horse  power,) 
we  get 

736,560  +  245,520 

33,000       -=29.7  horse  power. 


58  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

and  the  cinder  indicated  an  easy  working. 
The  coal  used  was  partly  from  Wilkesbarre 
and  partly  from  Shamokin,  the  latter  having 
been  but  very  recently  employed,  and  its 
efficiency  therefore  not  adequately  tested. 

These  furnaces  are  admirably  situated  in 
regard  to  the  ore,  two  valuable  beds  of  which 
underlie  the  base  of  the  stacks ;  and  being  on 
a  great  line  of  public  works,  have  little  to  fear 
from  the  suspension  of  operations  owing  to 
want  of  means  of  transporting  their  coal. 
The  plan  adopted  of  using  4  blowing  cylinders 
has,  it  appears  to  me,  little  to  recommend  it 
on  the  score  of  either  economy  or  convenience. 
The  blast  used  at  a  pressure  of  4  Ibs.  to  the 
square  inch  is  also  of  questionable  economy, 
involving  a  great  loss  at  all  the  crevices  and 
joints  of  the  apparatus.  The  furnace  which 
was  in  action  at  the  period  of  my  visit  was 
certainly  performing  well,  so  far  as  the  nature 
of  the  product  was  concerned.  It  should  be 
mentioned  that  the  proprietors  of  these  works 
are  erecting  a  large  rolling-mill  at  Wilkesbarre, 
where  they  intend  to  puddle  iron  with  an- 
thracite. 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  59 


10.    SHAMOKIN  FURNACE. 

The  Shamokin  furnace  can  as  yet  furnish  no 
data  for  judging  of  the  efficacy  of  the  arrange- 
ments there  adopted,  but  by  observing  the 
ample  provision  for  power,  that  of  two  high- 
pressure  steam  engines  of  80  horse  power 
each,  having  10  boilers  of  30  feet  long  and  30 
inches  in  diameter,  with  steam  cylinders  20 
inches  in  diameter  and  6  feet  length  of  stroke, 
working  under  a  pressure  of  70  pounds  to  the 
square  inch,  it  is  evident  that  all  which  blow- 
ing machinery  can  do  to  insure  success  may 
be  confidently  expected  in  this  establishment. 
The  engines  are  the  same  which  were  put  up 
and  used  at  the  coke  furnace  in  Farrandsville, 
already  referred  to. 

The  air-heating  apparatus  consists  of  three 
heating  ovens,  with  15  Calder  tubes  to  each, 
and  four  others  with  20  tubes  each,  making 
125  tubes  in  all.  This  apparatus  for  blowing 
and  heating  air  is  intended  for  two  furnaces, 
of  the  dimensions  recorded  in  the  table.  The 


60  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

coal  will  be  brought  to  the  furnace  from  mines 
but  a  few  hundred  yards  distant,  and  the  ore 
may  be  found  within  half  a  mile  of  the  same 
point.     Limestone  was  also  observed  within 
30  or  40  rods  of  the  stacks.    It  was  originally 
intended  to  carry  a  rail-road  to  the  trunnel 
head,   but  the  elevation  of  the  materials  by 
machinery  has  more  recently  been  decided  on, 
and  the  road  accordingly  laid  to  the  base  of 
the  furnace.     A  second  furnace  is  in  progress. 
The  works  now  under  review  will  proba- 
bly be  found  to  solve  completely  the  question 
of  the  profitable  operation  of  anthracite   es- 
tablishments on  a  large  scale,  and  in  situations 
analogous  to  those  of  the  great  iron  works  of 
Britain.     With  regard  to  their  steam  machin- 
ery it  may  probably  be  found  that  something 
is  yet  to   be  done  to  economize  heat.     The 
The  enormous  waste  by  radiation,   especially 
from  steam    pipes   and   cylinders,    should    be 
guarded  against ;  and  if  the  gas  from  the  steam 
furnaces  be  found  to  escape  into  the  chimney 
at  too  high  a  temperature,  a  more  economical 
form  of  boiler  should  be  adopted.     The  sub- 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  Q\ 

sequent  developments  of  this  essay  will  be 
found  to  justify  this  opinion.  A  low  pressure 
engine,  to  be  worked  by  the  escape  steam  of 
the  two  high  pressure  ones  now  built,  may 
possibly  be  found  no  bad  addition  in  connex- 
ion with  a  foundry  or  a  new  furnace. 

As  both  grey  and  red  ash  coals  are  found  at 
Shamokin,  the  relative  values  of  the  two  in 
the  blast  furnace  may  be  tested,  as  also  the 
opinion,  already  referred  to,  of  the  value  of 
Shamokin  coal  in  general,  as  compared  with 
the  anthracite  of  other  districts.  This  latter 
point  may  be  the  more  readily  settled  inas- 
much as  the  ore  used  at  first  will  be  that  of 
Danville,  in  connexion  with  which  this  coal 
has  heretofore  been  employed.  Exchanges  of 
coal  for  ore,  and  the  contrary,  ton  for  ton, 
have  already  been  made  between  the  Danville 
and  Shamokin  companies. 

The  construction  of  the  Shamokin  furnace 
will  be  understood  by  the  annexed  sketch, 
(page  62),  exhibiting,  on  a  scale  of  10  feet 
to  3-4  of  an  inch,  the  interior  form  and  foun- 
dation of  the  stack. 

6 


62 


ANTHRACITE  IRON. 


Stone. 


Bottom. 


Drain EJI 


ANTHRACITE  IRON. 


11,  12,  13,  14.     STANHOPE  FURNACES. 

The  works  at  Stanhope,  Morris  county, 
New  Jersey,  are,  in  some  respects,  the  most 
interesting  of  all  the  anthracite  iron  furnaces 
in  this  country.  They  stand  near  the  summit 
level  of  the  Morris  Canal,  between  Easton 
on  the  Delaware,  and  Newark  on  Raritan 
Bay.  By  this  canal,  the  coal  from  Mauch 
Chunk,  Beaver  Meadow,  Hazleton,  Sugar 
Loaf,  Buck  Mountain  and  Summit  Company's 
mines  may  arrive  on  the  bank,  at  the  level  of 
the  trunnel  head  of  these  furnaces.  The  wa- 
ters of  Rockaway  river,  with  a  fall  of  more 
than  50  feet,  are  used  for  the  moving  power, 
and  the  magnetic  ore,  found  in  such  abundance 
in  that  part  of  New  Jersey,  is  exclusively  em- 
ployed at  this  establishment.  This  last  circum- 
stance is  what  gives  the  highest  interest  to  the 
Stanhope  works.  To  reduce,  in  a  blast  furnace 
and  without  admixture  of  other  ores,  this  rich 
mineral,  by  the  aid  of  anthracite,  is  what  oth- 
ers had  hardly  dared  to  hope.  The  complete 


£>4  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

success  of  the  undertaking  constitutes  an  era 
in  the  business,  of  which  the  Stanhope  com- 
pany may  justly  be  proud  ;  an  era,  perhaps, 
equally  important  to  the  two  states  which  re- 
spectively furnish  the  ore  and  the  anthracite. 

The  greatest  amount  of  iron  which  had  been 
made  per  day,  previous  to  the  12th  of  June, 
1841,  when  these  works  were  visited,  was 
9.23  tons,  or  64.61  tons  per  week,  which  was 
not  however  continued  for  many  days  in  suc- 
cession. On  the  llth  of  June,  the  product 
was  14,644  Ibs.,  and  on  the  12th,  14,630;  or 
at  the  rate  of  45.7  gross  tons  per  week.  A 
slight  derangement  of  the  conducting  tubes  had, 
it  was  said,  caused  a  temporary  falling  off  in 
the  yield  for  two  or  three  days.  Fifty-six  tons 
per  week  was  stated  to  be  the  average  product. 
The  iron  was  not  remarkable  for  toughness, 
though  very  soft,  and  probably  a  re-melting  in 
the  cupola  would  improve  its  quality  as  cast  iron. 

The  variety  of  anthracite  preferred  to  others 
at  these  works  is  that  of  Beaver  Meadow. 
Coal  has  been  delivered  at  the  works  at  four 
or  four  and  a  half  dollars  per  ton. 


ANTHRACITE  IRON. 


15.      SCHUYLKILL   VALLEY    FURNACE.' 

This  furnace  has  been  put  into  blast  since  a 
part  of  the  foregoing  pages  were  sent  to  press, 
and  it  is  not  therefore  practicable  to  do  more 
than  refer  to  casual  statements  which  have 
reached  us  relative  to  the  immediate  success  of 
its  operations.  Its  situation  is  certainly  not 
less  favorable  in  regard  to  materials  than  that 
of  the  Pottsville  or  Shamokin  furnaces.  In 
reference  to  ore,  it  is  probably  as  advantage- 
ously located  as  any  others,  except  perhaps 
the  Shamokin  and  Danville  establishments. 


GENERAL  COMPARISONS. 

In  order  to  compare  the  supply  of  air  and 
the  yield  of  iron,  with  the  area  of  cross  section 
of  each  furnace  at  the  boshes,  and  the  power 
employed,  with  the  yield  in  pig  metal  per 
week,  the  following  table  has  been  con- 
structed from  the  data  furnished  by  the  table 
at  pages  28  — 31. 

6* 


66 


ANTHRACITE  IRON. 


TABLE  II. 


w 

i 

«TC 

—  -^ 

C8    0 

•3| 

1-3  a 

<_ 

£  l> 

&DJ4 

•S-2"® 

'o  ^"QJ 

•|S«3 

Name  of  fur- 

0 

J« 

'5.* 

_§  «  ^ 

«      ^ 

nace. 

s  . 

«g  S3 

•5* 

tw    0    1- 

=2"*  §  • 

o  a 

|| 

|f 

1! 

III 

-  S'c 

llll 

Ifli 

Ft. 

Tons. 

sq.ft. 

cub.  ft. 

h.  p. 

Mauch  Chunk.. 

5i 

23.750 

8 

2.968 

29.47 

700 

7.66 

Pottsville 

83 

60  130 

28 

2  147 

6°  68 

3769 

31  4 

Roaring  Creek.. 

56.745 

(  40 
J35 

1.418 
1.625 

42.29 
28.94 

2400 
1672 

32.4) 

12.8 

Phoenixville  

8 

50.265 

28 

1.795 

34.45 

1732 

14.16 

71 

44  178 

35 

1  262 

54  63 

2114 

35  6 

8^ 

56  745 

31  5 

1  801 

*32  79 

1861* 

29  7* 

Montour  

122 

113.097 

70 

1.615 

44.44 

5026 

104.6 

Cranework  

12 

113.097 

50 

2.261 

44.78 

5065 

68.3 

10 

78.540 

45.7 

1.718 

51.83 

4071 

65.1 

*  On  examining  and  comparing  this  result  with  others, 
there  seems  to  be  reason  to  suspect  that  some  error  has 
been  made  in  either  observing  or  noting  the  number  of 
strokes  of  the  pistons  in  the  blowing  and  steam  cylin- 
ders at  the  Columbia  furnace.  As  recorded  in  table  1, 
the  speed  of  the  former  is  but  5-8ths  that  of  the  latter. 
It  seems  probable  that  this  proportion  should  have  been 
reversed.  If  so,  the  blowing  cylinders  will  make  25 
double  strokes  each  per  minute  instead  of  15  3-8ths. 
The  bulk  of  air  will  then  be  2977  cubic  feet  per  min- 
ute instead  of  1861,  and  the  air  per  square  foot  of  bosh, 
will  be  52.49  cubic  feet — more  nearly  corresponding 
with  that  of  the  Danville  furnace,  —  and  the  power  will 
be  that  of  47.5  horses. 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  57 

The  formula  employed  for  computing  the 
power  required  to  inject  the  bulk  of  air  given 
by  observation,  and  under  the  pressure  noted, 

(A—    15A    \ 
ISA  35  +  P)   =   the   horse 

15  +  P    "  ~~2 / 

powers  of  the  blowing  machine,  whether  water 
or  steam.  Here  A  =  the  bulk  of  air  in  cubic 

• 

feet  per  minute,  and  p  =  the  pressure  in 
pounds  per  square  inch,  within  the  blowing 
cylinders.  The  horse  power  is  that  of  Watt, 
and  the  allowance  for  friction,  &c.  is  supposed 
to  be  one  fourth  of  the  whole,  or  one  third  as 
much  as  is  required  to  compress  and  inject  the 
air. 

The  initial  pressure  of  the  air  is  assumed  to 
be  15  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  and  the  tem- 
perature 60°.  It  would  be  as  yet  a  misplaced 
refinement  to  enter  into  minute  computations 
relative  to  the  quantity  of  moisture  in  the  air, 
and  the  variations  of  force  required  in  the  ma- 
chinery on  this  and  similar  accounts,  at  differ- 
ent seasons  of  the  year.  When  with  a  limited 
power  only  at  command,  it  is  desired  to  inject 
an  increased  volume  of  air,  the  obvious  expe- 


68  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

dient  is  to  enlarge  the  area  of  the  nozzles,  and 
thereby  reduce  the  pressure  and  increase  the 
speed.  When,  at  each  stroke,  a  space  is  left 
above  and  below  the  pistons  in  the  blowing 
cylinders,  from  which  the  air  is  not  expelled, 
the  recoil  of  this  residual  air  after  compression 
obviously  causes  it  to  occupy  some  portion  of 
the  space  which  would  otherwise  be  filled  by 
air  newly  admitted.  Hence  the  importance 
of  accurate  adjustment  between  the  piston  and 
cylinder  heads.  The  piston  rods  of  blowing 
cylinders  sometimes  pass  "  through  and 
through"  both  heads,  especially  when  the 
cylinders  are  laid  horizontally ;  and  then  the 
bulk  of  air  taken  in  at  each  single  stroke, 
is  the  same  ;  but  as  this  construction  is  not 
adopted  at  any  of  the  anthracite  works,  a 
deduction  is  to  be  made  of  a  few  feet  per 
minute  for  the  bulk  of  the  piston-rod  filling 
a  portion  of  the  space  on  one  side  only  at  each 
revolution. 

From  the  preceding  table,  it  appears  that 
great  differences  exist  between  the  quantities 
of  air  required  to  be  blown  through  a  given 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  69 

section  of  boshes  per  minute  ;  "but  that  the 
average  supply,  including  the  two  modes  of 
driving  Roaring  Creek  furnace,  is  42.63*  cubic 
feet  of  air  to  one  square  foot  of  bosh,  but  as 
this  includes  all  the  air  blown,  as  well  for 
heating  ovens  as  for  the  furnace  itself,  the 
quantity  taken  by  the  latter  will  be  consider- 
ably less.  The  iron  made  per  minute  by  each 
square  foot  of  boshes,  is,  on  an  average,  0.127 
pounds,  or  182  7-8  pounds  in  twenty  four  hours. 
Hence,  the  bulk  of  air  required  to  pass  the 
bellows  in  making  1  pound  of  iron,  is  335  2-3 
cubic  feet,  or  25  4-5  pounds. 

With  regard  to  the  area  of  cross  section  at 
the  boshes,  as  affecting  the  amount  of  iron 
made,  it  appears,  that  if  we  omit  the  Mauch 
Chunk  furnace,  and  take  Roaring  Creek  as 
making  40  tons  per  week,  the  production  of 
one  ton  of  pig  iron  per  week,  is  derived  from 
1  3-4  square  feet  of  bosh,  —  or  one  ton  per 
day  from  every  12  1-4  square  feet. 

*  By  the  supposition  in  the  preceding  note,  (page  66), 
this  number  will  be  raised  to  45. 13. 


70  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

Comparing  the  whole  number  of  tons  pro- 
duced per  week,  by  all  the  furnaces  with  the 
whole  amount  of  power  by  which  the  blast  ap- 
pears to  have  been  furnished,  we  find  1.08* 
horse  powers,  as  the  force  employed  in  giving 
one  ton  per  week.  If  this  result  be  increased 
to  1  1-4  horse  power,  it  may,  I  think,  be  relied 
on  as  an  entirely  safe  basis  for  calculations  in 
the  construction  of  blowing  machinery  for  an- 
thracite works,  and  give  a  surplus  sufficient  to 
answer  in  all  emergencies.  . 

The  average  force  or  pressure  of  blast,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  2.4  pounds  per  square  inch, 
and  though  it  has  often  been  attempted  to  em- 
ploy a  blast  greatly  inferior  to  this  in  tension, 
I  am  not  aware  of  much  success  having  at- 
tended these  attempts.  Either  a  falling  off  in 
the  yield,  an  inferiority  of  metal,  or  a  destruc- 
tion of  the  furnace  hearth,  has  usually  been 
the  consequence.  It  is  evident,  that  the 
amount  of  power  required  to  inject  the  air  will 
diminish  in  direct  proportion  to  the  decrease 

*  Or  1.13,  in  accordance  with  the  note  on  page  66. 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  7J 

of  pressure  ;  but  until  some  evidence  more  con- 
clusive than  what  has  hitherto  transpired,  shall 
be  adduced  in  favor  of  a  softer  blast,  it  seems 
better  to  adhere  to  what  is  now  giving  good 
results  in  several  of  the  anthracite  furnaces. 

CHARACTER     AND     CONSTITUTION     OF    ANTHRA- 
CITE   AMOUNT     OF     BLAST    REQUIRED     FOR 

ITS    COMBUSTION. 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  manufacture  of 
iron,  with  any  kind  of  fuel  whatever,  it  is  de- 
sirable to  know  in  advance,  at  least  within 
approximate  limits,  what  amount  of  mechani- 
cal power  will  suffice  to  administer  in  the  most 
advantageous  manner,  the  requisite  quantity 
of  air  to  the  furnace. 

Two  circumstances  will  chiefly  determine 
this  question. 

First,  the  weight  of  oxygen  required  from 
the  air,  for  the  complete  combustion  of  the 
fuel  to  be  used  in  a  given  time. 

Secondly,  the  pressure  under  which  it  is  to 
be  delivered  to  the  furnace. 


72  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

In  the  case  of  anthracite,  the  weight  of  oxy- 
gen will,  in  general,  "be  easily  computed,  since 
it  contains  little  or  no  other  combustible  than 
carbon,  and  since  the  quantity  of  this  is  pretty 
well  ascertained,  for  the  various  coal  fields 
which  supply  iron  furnaces. 

Analysis  of  single,  well  selected  specimens 
of  anthracite,  must  not,  however,  be  too  im- 
plicitly relied  on.  There  is,  inevitably,  inter- 
mixed with  the  coal,  more  or  less  slaty  matter, 
or  coal  of  a  semi-combustible  character,  which 
allows  it  to  pass  almost  unchanged  through 
the  blast  furnace.  This,  as  well  as  the  earthy 
residuum  of  the  coal  itself,  is  to  be  deducted, 
together  with  the  volatile  matter,  before  as- 
signing the  quantity  of  carbon  which  is  to 
undergo  combustion  in  the  blast  furnace.  It 
will  not  be  far  from  the  truth  to  deduct  for 
volatile  matter,  ashes  and  unconsumed  coal  or 
slate,  15  per  cent,  of  all  the  anthracite  which  is 
put  in  at  the  trunnel  head,  leaving  85  per  cent, 
for  the  carbon  consumed.  Some  varieties  will 
doubtless  give  a  small  per  cent,  more  than  this 
quantity,  while  others  will  yield  less.  To 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  73 

make  the  computation  more  nearly  accurate,  a 
large  quantity  of  the  particular  anthracite  used, 
should  be  analyzed,  and  the  quantity  of  earthy 
matter,  after  incineration,  be  carefully  weigh- 
ed. If,  in  use  in  a  furnace,  the  amount  of 
unburnt  slate  and  coal  which  comes  through 
in  a  given  time,  should  be  ascertained. 

The  results  obtained  by  calculations  of  the 
kind  here  indicated  will  of  course  give  only 
approximations.  The  ore  will  furnish  no  in- 
considerable quantity  of  oxygen.  Some  at- 
mospheric air  will  escape  combustion ;  and 
much  of  the  gas  escaping  at  the  trunnel  head 
is  not  carbonic  acid,  but  carbonic  oxide  and 
carburetted  hydrogen. 

To  aid  in  forming  estimates  of  the  volume 
of  air  required  in  anthracite  furnaces,  the  fol- 
lowing analyses  of  that  material,  from  different 
parts  of  the  coal  regions,  may  be  consulted. 

Though  not  immediately  connected  with 
our  present  investigations,  yet  for  the  purpose 
of  ready  comparison,  it  has  been  deemed  pro- 
per to  add,  in  a  subsequent  table,  some  analy- 
ses of  our  free-burning  bituminous  coals. 


74 


ANTHRACITE  IRON. 


TABLE  III. 

View  of  the  composition  of  some  of  the  anthracite 
coals  of  Pennsylvania,  as  determined  by  the  wri- 
ter's analyses. 


Locality  of  Coal. 

Sp.  Gr. 

Vol.  Matter. 

Carbon. 

Ashes. 

1.  Summit  Co's  Lands,  head  of  Beaver 
Creek 

1  560 

6  42 

97  30 

1  28 

2.  do.  2d  bed  

1.594 

4  31 

91  69 

4  00 

3.  do  3d  do 

1  613 

7  51 

87  48 

5  01 

4  do  4th  do 

1  630 

9  60 

85  34 

5  06 

5.  Stevenson's   Bluff,  west  of  Beaver 

1  613 

9  23 

86  06 

3  71 

6,  Buck  Mountain  

1  559 

5  90 

91  02 

3  08 

7.  Sugar  Loaf  Co.,  1st  specimen  
8.                      do.  2dbed  

1.591 
1.574 

6.98 
5  36 

88.19 
85  91 

4.83 
8  73 

9.  do.  same  bed,  but  further  down  the 

1  550 

6  87 

90  71 

2  42 

10.  Lyken's  Valley  1st  sample.  . 

1  391 

7  60 

87  95 

4  45 

1  404 

5  95 

89  30 

4  75 

12.  do.  3d  do  

1.416 

10  00 

85  70 

4  30 

13.  do.  4th  do              

1  374 

4  go 

88  70 

6  70 

14.  do.  5th  do  

1.376 

8  35 

87  75 

3  90 

15.  do.  6th  do  

1  395 

8  30 

88  65 

3  05 

16.  do  7th  do 

1  382 

8  65 

87  20 

4  15 

17.  do.  8th  do  

1  398 

11  85 

84  00 

4  15 

18   do.  9lh  do  

1  378 

7  30 

87  00 

5  70 

19.  Mauch  Chunk,  Summit  Mines  
20.  Room  Run  Mines  

1.590 
1.604 

7.90 
6  15 

87.10 
87  20 

5.00 
6  65 

21.  Pottsville  

1.569 

6.71 

86.54 

6.75 

The  first  nine  of  the  above  analyses,  give  a 
fair  average  of  the  coal  at  the  eastern  extrem- 
ity of  the  middle  coal  field,  and  show  that 
the  volatile  matter  is  6.91,  the  fixed  carbon 
88.744,  and  the  ashes,  4.346  per  cent.  The 
mean  specific  gravity  of  these  nine  varieties 
is  1.587.  The  second  nine  give  the  charac- 
ter of  the  north-western  termination  of  the 


ANTHRACITE  IRON. 


75 


southern  anthracite  field.  The  mean  per 
centage  of  volatile  matter  is  here  8.066,  of 
carbon  87.36,  and  of  ashes  4.574. 

The  amount  of  these  several  ingredients  in 
the  last  class  of  coals,  is  nearly  identical  with 
those  of  the  anthracite  used  by  Mr.  Crane,  in 
his  iron  works  in  South  Wales. 


TABLE  IV. 

View  of  some  of  the  "free-burning "  bituminous 
coals  of  Pennsylvania,  suitable  to  be  used  in  blast 
furnaces,  either  with  or  without  coking. 


Locality. 

Sp.  Gr.  |Vol.  Matter. 

Carbon. 

Ashes. 

1.    Savage     Mountain     Coal    trough 
Somerset  County  
2    do  2d  bed 

1.319 
1.321 
1.343 
1.362 
1.363 
1.370 
1.386 
1.388 
1.480 
1.491 

1.437 
1.346 

1.515 

1.448 
1.465 
1.377. 
1,378 
1.349 
1.388 
1.400 

1.320 
1.372 

1.301 

20.2 
19.9 
21.8 
19.8 
18.3 
18.8 
20.1 
19.5 
18.7 
17.6 

is.  ea  - 

16.03 

15.00 
17.40 
19.10 
20.50 
19.20 
J9.30 
17.90 
18.90 

19.80 
18.80 

15.90 

75.75 
69.10 
69.90 
68.54 
71.50 
70.70 
68.46 
68.44 
68.56 
66.36 

68.56 
70.75 

62.60 
70.00 
63.90 
68.10 
65.50 
74.97 
69.00 
68.57 

75.20 
74.40 

77.60 

4.05 
Jl.OO 
8.10 
11.66 
10.20 
10.50 
11.44 
12.06 
12.79 
16.04 

15.82 
13.22 

22.40 
12.60 
17.00 
11.40 
15.30 
5.73 
13.10 
12.53 

5.00 
6.80 

6.50 

3.  do.  3d  do  

4.  do  4th  do             .... 

6.  do  6th  do  

8    do  8th  do 

9.  do.  9th  do  

10.  do  10th  do  .. 

11.  do.  Maryland  Mining  Co.  (Mary- 
land.)   

12.  do.  George  Creek,  at  Lonakoning, 
(Maryland.)  

13.  Carbon  Creek,  Bradford  Co.  (Pa,) 

14.  do.  2d  sample  

15    do  3d  do  

16    do  2d  bed    l«t  sample. 

17    do  do  2d  do 

18    do.  do  3d  do  t  

19    do  3d  bed   1st  sample  

20    do   do  2d   do 

21.  Lick  Run  jLycoming  County,  (Pa.) 
Diamond  ply  
22.  Quinn'sRun,  Lycoming  County... 
23.  Broad  Top  Mountain,  Bedford  Co. 
(Pennsylvania.)  

76  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

It  appears  from  Table  I.  that  the  number 
of  tons  of  anthracite  supplied  per  week  to 
seven  furnaces,  viz.,  Roaring  Creek,  Phoenix- 
ville,  Danville,  Crane,  Columbia,  Montour  and 
Stanhope,  is  501.3;  and  as  these  furnaces 
make  310.5  tons  of  pig  metal  per  week,  and 
demand,  on  an  average,  4.5  cwt.  of  anthracite 
to  each  ton  of  pig  for  heating  their  blast,  their 
total  weekly  consumption  will  be  571.16 
tons.  Hence  the  anthracite  demanded  for 
both  smelting  and  heating  blast  is  5^j  =  1.84 
tons  =  1  ton  16  cwt.  3  qrs.  5.6  Ibs.  to  the  ton 
of  pig  metal  produced.  If  this  anthracite  were 
pure  carbon  and  were  completely  converted 
into  carbonic  acid,  the  weight  of  oxygen  re- 
quired for  that  purpose  would  be  ^x  1.84  = 
4.906  tons  ;  but  if  we  admit  that  the  mean  of 
the  two  sets  of  analyses  above  given  represents 
the  average  quantity  of  carbon  in  Pennsylva- 
nia anthracite,  viz.,  88  per  cent.,  then  the 
quantity  of  oxygen  will  be  but  ^X  4.906  = 
4.317  tons.  As  the  oxygen  is  to  be  supplied 
from  the  atmosphere,  of  which  the  composition, 
(omitting  moisture  and  impurities,)  is  28  parts 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  77 

by  weight  of  nitrogen  to  8  of  oxygen,  the  to- 
tal quantity  of  air  for  one  ton  of  pig  will  be 
|  X  4.317  =  19,426  tons  ;  which,  at  13.22  cu- 
bic feet  to  the  pound  avoirdupois,  will  be  equal 
to  572,255  cubic  feet.  Hence  it  is  easy  to 
calculate  what  number  of  cubic  feet  of  air 
should  be  delivered  to  the  furnace  and  heating 
ovens,  when  we  have  determined  how  many 
tons  of  iron  can  be  made  per  day.  Thus,  sup- 
pose the  furnace  to  make  7  tons  per  day,  the 
time  for  making  one  ton  will  be  1440 -r-7— 
205.7  minutes,  and  the  number  of  cubic  feet 
of  air  required  to  pass  the  nozzles  in  one  min- 
ute will  be  ^f  =  2782. 

The  seven  furnaces  above  named  receive 
22,569  cubic  feet  of  air  into  their  blowing  cyl- 
inders per  minute,  and  the  aggregate  area  of 
their  boshes  is  512.67  square  feet.  The  an- 
thracite which  they  use  will  not  probably  yield 
over  85  per  cent,  of  pure  carbon,  after  deduct- 
ing that  which  escapes  combustion  and  comes 
out  with  the  cinder,  together  with  the  slate 
unavoidably  intermixed,  and  the  dust  which  is 
projected  out  at  the  trunnel  head.  The  quan- 


78  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

tity  of  anthracite  which  makes  one  ton  of  pig 
is,  as  above,  1.84  tons. 

The  time  required  for  the  seven  furnaces  to 
make  one  ton  of  pig  is  17>64°  =  34.4  minutes. 

A    °  512.67 

The  weight  of  carbon  burnt  in  that  time  is 
.85  X  1.84  =  1.564  tons  ;  and  this  will  require 
2.66  times  its  weight  of  oxygen  to  form 
carbonic  acid,  or  4.16  tons.  This  quantity 
of  oxygen  will  be  contained  in  ™  X  4.16  = 
18.72  tons  of  air;  which,  at  29,612.8  cubic 
feet  to  the  ton,  gives  554,35 1.6  cubic  feet  of 
air  to  make  one  ton  of  pig ;  and  as  this  takes 
34.4  minutes,  the  air  required  to  be  burnt  at  all 
the  furnaces  per  minute,  is  554,35 l.6-r-  34.4  = 
16,149  cubic  feet.  Deducting  this  from 
22,569,  the  quantity  derived  from  observations 
on  the  movements  of  the  blowing  pistons,*  we 
have  a  surplus  of  6,454  cubic  feet,  or  28.4  per 
cent,  of  the  whole,  either  not  completely  ex- 
pelled through  the  eduction  valves,  or  allowed 
to  escape  at  the  safety  valves,  joints  and  tu- 
yeres, or  remaining  unburnt  in  the  furnace  and 

*  See  note,  p.  66. 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  79 

heating  ovens*  With  regard  to  the  latter,  it 
may  be  safely  asserted  that  they  do  not  con- 
sume more  than  one  half  of  the  oxygen  which 
passes  through  their  grates. 

In  general,  according  to  a  preceding  deduc- 
tion, let  the  number  of  tons  of  iron  which  a 
furnace  can  make  per  day  be  represented  by 
•JL  ;  B  being  the  area  of  cross  section  of  such 

furnace  at  the  boshes.  Then  will  the  time,  in 
minutes,  of  making  one  ton  be  ^x  1440  =  ^12. 
Let  the  proportion  of  carbon  in  100  parts  of 
the  anthracite  used  be  .1,  and  the  weight  of 
anthracite,  in  tons,  required  to  smelt  one  ton 
of  pig  be  a ;  then  the  quantity  of  carbon  con- 
sumed in  making  a  ton  of  iron  will  be  ii,  and 
the  weight  of  air,  in  tons,  required  for  its  com- 
bustion into  carbonic  acid,  "  X  ™  x  -A  =  0.1 2ca. 

o  8          100 

The  conversion  of  this  expression  of  the  weight 
of  air  into  cubic  feet,  is  easily  effected,  since 
13.22  cubic  feet  weigh  one  pound  avoirdupois, 
and  the  ton  of  air  consequently  contains 
2240  x  13.22  =  29,612.8  cubic  feet.  Hence 
the  number  of  cubic  feet  of  air  used  in  making 


80  ANTHRACITE   IRON. 

a  ton  of  pig  metal  will  be  represented  by 
29,612.8  x  0.12ca  =  3553.5ca.  Dividing  this 
bulk  of  air  by  the  above  expression,  represent- 
ing the  time  in  minutes  required  to  make  one 

ton  of  pig,  we  get  i764r  —  .2014ca_S  =  the 


number  of  cubic  feet  of  air  required  per  minute 
by  the  furnace  and  heating  ovens.  In  other 
words,  multiply  together  the  area  of  boshes  in 
square  feet,  —  the  weight  of  anthracite  in  tons 
used  per  ton  of  pig,  produced  ',  —  the  number 
representing  the  per  centage  of  carbon  in  the 
anthracite  and  the  decimal  0.2014,  and  the 
product  will  give  the  number  of  cubic  feet  of 
air,  before  compression,  which  must  enter  the 
furnace  and  heating  ovens  per  minute.  If  we 
take  into  account  the  quantity  of  oxygen  con- 
tained in  the  ore,  it  might  be  supposed  that  a 
large  deduction  would  be  allowable  from  the 
bulk  of  air  given  by  this  formula  ;  but  the 
quantity  of  oxygen  which  does  not  undergo 
combustion  will  account  for  the  fact,  that  even 
a  greater  quantity  than  that  given  by  calcula- 
tion is  actually  injected  into  the  fires. 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  81 

It  will  of  course  be  understood,  that  all  the 
above  deductions  are  to  be  regarded  as  ap- 
proximations only,  such  as  the  present  working 
of  the  several  establishments  enables  us  to 
make.  To  give  exact  data  for  calculations  of 
this  nature,  they  ought  to  be  furnished  with 
more  correct  instruments  for  observing  and 
recording  the  several  items  wrhich  enter  into 

o 

the  computation.  The  waste  space  above 
and  below  the  piston  should  be  known.  The 
number  of  movements  of  piston  per  day  should 
be  marked  by  a  self-registering  apparatus ; 
the  pressure  should  be  marked  by  an  inverted 
syphon  guage  of  large-sized  glass  tube ;  the 
two  limbs  being  accurately  of  the  same  diam- 
eter, and  connected  at  bottom  by  a  section  of 
diminished  and  almost  capillary  size,  thus  pre- 
venting rapid  and  violent  oscillations,  which 
always  interfere  with  accurate  experiments. 
Where  works  are  situated  at  considerable  ele- 
vations, the  mean .  barometric  pressure  should 
be  known,  —  and  if  the  season  of  making  ob- 
servations do  not  extend  through  the  year,  the 
temperature  and  dew  point  of  the  air  at  the 


82  ANTHRACITE  IRON. 

times  of  observing,  should  be  reduced  to  that 
of  the  annual  mean.  It  would  be  desirable  to 
know,  in  all  cases,  the  quantity  of  matter  vol- 
atile at  a  white  heat,  both  in  the  ore,  the  coal, 
and  the  limestone ;  as  well  as  the  fixed  mat- 
ter, other  than  iron,  in  the  ore,  the  ashes  of  the 
coal,  and  the  lime  or  other  materials  after  cal- 
cination, in  the  limestone.  The  weight  of 
cinder  as  well  as  of  pig  metal,  which  is  drawn 
from  the  furnace,  should  be  ascertained,  if  we 
would  form  a  just  and  intelligent  estimate  of 
what  is  going  on  within.  Due  economy  of 
moving  power,  is  every  where  more  or  less 
important,  and  hence  the  accuracy  of  work- 
manship in  blowing  apparatus,  can  hardly  be 
over-estimated.  Where  anthracite  is  trans- 
ported to  a  distance  for  supplying  this  force, 
the  best  means  of  applying  its  heating  power 
should  be  well  understood.  Great  economy 
has  within  a  few  years  been  obtained  by  an 
attention  to  philosophical  principles,  in  gener- 
ating and  using  steam,  whether  obtained  from 
wood  or  from  mineral  fuel ;  and  since  the 
most  wasteful  practices  often  exist  in  connex- 


ANTHRACITE  IRON.  83 

ion  with  this  part  of  an  iron  establishment,  a 
careful  attention  should  be  given  to  ascertain 
the  quantity  of  water  by  weight  which  goes 
into  the  boiler,  per  week,  as  well  as  its  tem- 
perature and  the  weight  and  quality  of  the 
anthracite  with  which  the  evaporation  is  ef- 
fected. The  evaporative  power  of  anthracite, 
that  is,  the  number  of  pounds  of  water  which 
can  be  vaporized  by  the  combustion  of  one 
pound  of  the  fuel,  has  already  engaged  atten- 
tion, and  is  likely  to  be  still  more  minutely 
examined.  Among  the  causes  which  inter- 
fere with  the  economical  action  of  steam  boil- 
ers, is  the  want  of  sufficient  heating  surface 
in  the  boiler,  compared  with  the  quantity  of 
steam  which  it  is  required  to  supply,  and  the 
consequent  necessity  of  urging  the  draught  to 
such  a  degree  as  to  carry  away  a  great  portion 
of  heat  in  the  gases  which  escape  into  the 
chimney.  The  use  of  high  pressure  steam, 
without  condensation,  of  course  involves  the 
loss  of  at  least  one  atmosphere  in  the  total 
pressure  generated.  So  important  is  the  sub- 
ject of  the  heating  and  evaporating  power  of 


34  EVAPORATIVE   POWER 

anthracite  to  the  iron  master,  as  well  as  to  the 
manufacturer  and  to  the  navigator  by  steam, 
that  no  apology,  will  be  required  by  the  reader 
for  our  introducing  the  following  remarks  in 
relation  to  this  subject. 


EVAPORATIVE  POWER  or  ANTHRACITE. 

Writers  have  heretofore  stated,  that  when 
bituminous  coal  is  submitted  in  gas  retorts  or 
coking  ovens,  to  such  a  temperature  as  to  de- 
prive it  of  a  large  portion,  or  the  whole  of  its 
volatile  matter,  it  still  retains  nearly  the  same 
heating  power  in  the  form  of  coke,  which  it 
had  possessed  in  that  of  coal. 

Thus,  in  his  paper  on  the  evaporative  power 
of  coal,  in  the  transactions  of  the  Institution 
for  Civil  Engineers,  Vol.  2,  p.  159,  Mr.  Josiah 
Parkes,  says,  "  I  have  myself  invariably  found, 
as  might  be  expected,  that  species  of  coal  to 
be  the  strongest  fuel,  which  contained  the 
least  gas,  and  vice  versa." 

"  I  have  also  found  that  75  pounds  of  coke 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  35 

produced  from  100  pounds  of  coal,  evaporated 
as  much  water  as  100  pounds  of  the  self-same 
coal." 

When  burning  coal  yielding  34  per  cent,  of 
volatile  matter,  Smeaton  found  that  its  coke 
would  produce,  on  the  same  grate,  83  1-3  per 
cent,  as  much  effect  as  an  equal  weight  of  the 
coal ;  but  it  is  probable  that  had  the  grate  been 
adapted  to  coke,  the  effect  of  the  latter  might 
have  been  still  more  favorable. 

Mr.  Apsley  Pellatt's  experience,  in  a  glass 
furnace  is  cited  by  Mr.  Parkes,  as  follows  : 
"  Mr.  Pellatt's  mode  of  burning  coke  exhibits, 
in  a  far  more  perfect  manner  than  any  steam 
boiler  can  do,  the  relative  calorific  value  of 
coke  and  coal.  The  space  within  his  glass 
pot  furnace,  gives  abundant  room  for  the  com- 
bination of  air  with  the  gaseous  products  ;  the 
flames  are  not  extinguished  by  comparatively 
cold  surfaces  like  those  of  a  boiler,  which,  after 
inflammation,  reduce  them  back  again  into 
smoke ;  the  heat  requisite  for  perfect  combus- 
tion is  always  present,  and  his  furnaces  are 
particularly  favorable  to  the  development  of  all 


86  EVAPORATIVE   POWER 

the  power  of  coal ;  jet  he  finds  common  gas 
coke  to  be  superior  to  coals  in  heating  power 
by  25  per  cent. ;  and  gas  coke  is  stated  by 
M.  de  Pambour  to  be  found  inferior  to  Wors- 
ley  coke  by  12  1-2  per  cent.,  which  no  one 
acquainted  with  coke  will  doubt ;  thus  exhib- 
iting an  excess  over  coal  of  37  1-2  per  cent." 

Mr.  Wood,  in  his  treatise  on  railroads,  states 
his  experiments  on  locomotive  boilers  with 
coaly  to  have  given  a  result  of  4.46  pounds 
of  water  evaporated  from  60°  by  the  consump- 
tion of  1  pound  of  fuel ;  while  M.  de  Pambour 
from  the  mean  of  eleven  experiments  on  loco- 
motive engines,  burning  coke,  shows  that  the 
evaporative  power  of  the  latter  is  6.21  pounds 
of  water  to  1  of  coke,  thus  indicating  a  supe- 
riority of  nearly  40  per  cent,  in  favor  of  coke 
over  coal. 

From  a  temperature  of  212°  Mr.  Wood's 
coal  would  have  evaporated  5.12  Ibs.  of  water, 
and  M.  Pambour's  coke,  7.12  Ibs.  It  should, 
however,  be  mentioned  that  in  this  case,  the 
whole  deficiency  is  not  probably  attributable  to 
the  inferiority  of  coal  to  coke,  but  in  part  also  to 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  37 

the  want  of  sufficient  absorbing  surface.  In 
Mr.  Wood's  experiments,  this  was  only  9.61 
square  feet  to  one  square  foot  of  grate ;  while 
in  M.  de  Pambour's  it  was  47.6  feet,  or  near- 
ly 5  times  as  much. 

A  knowledge  of  the  superiority  of  the  fixed 
over  the  volatile  constituents  of  coal,  induced 
the  writer,  in  1838,  to  compute  and  publish  in 
the  National  Gazette,  of  Philadelphia,  the  re- 
lative value  of  some  of  the  anthracites  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  the  bituminous  coals  in  use  in 
this  and  other  countries.  This  superiority  in 
economy  for  naval  purposes,  was  predicated 
on  two  circumstances.  First,  the  superior 
efficiency  of  anthracite,  weight  for  weight ; 
and,  second,  its  greater  specific  gravity,  by 
which  a  greater  weight  may  be  stowed  in  a 
given  amount  of  space  on  shipboard.  For  the 
purposes  of  the  iron  masters  and  manufactur- 
ers in  general,  who  use  this  fuel,  for  produc- 
ing steam,  the  first  consideration  alone  is  of 
much  importance ;  but  this,  together  with 
questions  in  regard  to  the  most  economical 
method  of  burning  it  and  applying  its  heat, 


g3  EVAPORATIVE   POWER 

will  be  found  of  great  interest  in  a  course  of 
years,  even  where  anthracite  is  to  be  had  at 
the  lowest  rate. 

If  it  can  be  shown  that,  by  a  judicious  ar- 
rangement of  boilers  and  grates,  the  cost  of  one 
or  two  tons  of  coal  per  day  can  be  saved  to  an 
iron  furnace,  —  this  amount,  trifling  as  it  may 
seem,  where  coal  does  not  cost  more  than  one 
dollar  per  ton,  at  the  works,  may  still  be  found 
to  constitute  the  interest  of  a  pretty  large  sum 
at  the  end  of  a  year.  One  dollar  per  day  is 
more  than  enough  to  pay  the  interest  on  the 
entire  cost  of  the  engine  and  boilers,  at  some 
of  our  large  iron  works,  and  certainly  would 
amply  compensate  for  any  increased  expense 
of  boiler,  which  might  be  found  necessary,  in 
order  to  apply  correct  instead  of  erroneous 
principles  of  combustion. 

The  actual  evaporative  power  of  any  fuel  as 
determined  by  practice  must  depend  both  on 
the  nature  and  constitution  of  the  fuel,  and  on 
the  kind  of  arrangement  adopted  to  effect  its 
combustion,  whether  slow  or  rapid,  and  to 
apply  its  calorific  energies.  Hence  the  impor- 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  g9 

tance  of  knowing  the  form  of  boiler,  size  and 
construction  of  grate,  and  the  extent  and  posi- 
tion of  heat-absorbing  surfaces  best  adapted  to 
give  high  evaporative  results. 

In  all  the  iron  works,  using  steam  power, 
to  which  reference  has  been  made  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages,  the  kind  of  boiler  used  is  the 
ordinary  simple  cylindrical  one,  having  neither 
side  nor  interior  return  flues,  and  consequently 
allowing  no  greater  average  circuit  to  the 
heated  gases  than  from  the  centre  of  the  grate 
to  the  entrance  of  the  flue,  of  course  less  than 
the  length  of  the  boiler.  It  may  on  an  aver- 
age be  computed  that  the  absorbing  surface  of 
each  boiler  is  one  half  its  curved  surface. 
Some  of  the  experiments,  which  will  be  here- 
after cited,  will  show  how  little  economical 
such  a  boiler  is,  as  compared  with  other  forms 
and  arrangements  which  might  be  adopted. 

Among  the  earliest  of  those  who  have 
studied  this  subject  with  a  view  to  its  useful 
applications,  may  be  mentioned  the  celebrated 
Mr.  Watt,  who  at  the  Albion  Mills,  and  in  a 
wagon  boiler,  of  the  form  usually  adopted  by 

8" 


90  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

him,  obtained  the  result  of  8.62  pounds  of 
water  evaporated  from  its  initial  temperature, 
or  9.63  from  a  temperature  of  212°  by  the 
combustion  of  one  pound  of  Newcastle  bitu- 
minous coal.  In  later  times  the  observations 
of  Mr.  Lean  on  the  performance  of  the  Cornish 
engines  used  in  pumping,  have  put  us  in  pos- 
session of  numerous  and  valuable  facts  in  re- 
gard to  the  evaporative  power  of  the  same 
species  of  fuel  found  in  Wales.  At  first  the 
effect  of  the  bushel  of  coal  was  measured  by 
the  performance  of  the  engine,  to  which  the 
steam  was  administered,  thus  complicating  the 
question  of  the  production  of  steam  with  that 
of  its  application.  More  recently,  however,  a 
method  has  been  devised  for  determining  and 
registering  through  the  agency  of  an  apparatus 
which  may  be  termed  an  aquameter,  the  quan- 
tity of  water  delivered  in  any  given  period  to 
the  boiler.  By  means  of  this  registration  it 
has  been  ascertained,  that  in  the  Cornish  dou- 
ble cylindrical  boilers,  36  feet  long,  with  an 
exterior  shell  6  feet,  and  an  interior  one  of  4 
feet  in  diameter,  and  affording  to  the  flame  or 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  9j 

hot  gas,  a  circuit  of  172  feet,  or  a  little  more 
than  four  times  the  length  of  the  boiler,  the 
effect  of  one  pound  of  bituminous  coal  is  the 
evaporation  from  a  temperature  of  212°  of 
11.62  pounds  of  water. 

An  opinion  prevails  to  some  extent  in  this 
country,  that  the  locomotive  boiler  is  among  the 
most  economical  forms  of  evaporating  vessels  ; 
but  Mr.  Parkes  has  proved  that  where  a  pound 
of  coal  is  burned  in  44.03  seconds  in  a  Cor- 
nish boiler,  it  produces  more  than  twice  the 
evaporative  effect  of  the  same  weight  of  fuel 
burned  in  6  3-4  seconds  in  a  locomotive  boiler ; 
and  a  series  of  experiments  made  under  the 
directions  of  Mr.  Stevens,  at  Bordentown, 
N.  J.,  also  in  a  locomotive  boiler,  used  at  the 
time  for  stationary  purposes,  has  proved  that 
whether  wood  or  anthracite  be  the  fuel,  an 
increase  in  the  rapidity  of  combustion  in  the 
same  boiler,  is  accompanied  by  a  diminution 
in  the  evaporative  efficiency  of  the  combusti- 
ble. It  has  also  shown  that  the  rate  of  dimi- 
nution in  evaporative  effect,  is  within  certain 
limits  more  rapid  than  that  of  the  increase  of 


92  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

combustion,  in  the  ratio  of  4  to  3.  Messrs. 
Parkes  and  Manby's  experiments  on  board  the 
steamer  "  Anthracite,"  with  Player's  boiler, 
using  anthracite  coal  for  fuel,  amply  demon- 
strate the  same  general  truth. 

Many  of  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Dana 
hereafter  cited,  will  be  seen  clearly  to  prove 
the  truth  of  the  position,  that  beyond  certain 
limits  an  increase  in  the  rate  of  combustion 
in  any  given  boiler  is  attended  with  a  loss  of 
useful  effect. 

It  is  evident  that  the  heat-absorbing  surface 
of  a  steam-boiler  might  be  so  great,  and  the 
circuit  to  be  traversed  by  the  heat  so  extend- 
ed, in  comparison  with  the  quantity  of  com- 
bustion taking  place  on  its  grate,  that  the  hot 
gaseous  matter  would  not  escape  until  some 
time  after  it  had  imparted  all  the  heat  it  was 
capable  of  yielding  to  the  fluid  within  the 
boiler.  In  such  case  the  gas  remaining  at  a 
uniform  temperature  for  the  latter  periods  of 
its  transit,  would  clearly  not  have  its  efficiency 
diminished  by  such  an  increase  of  combustion 
as  should  urge  it  with  more  rapidity  towards  its 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  93 

exit  from  the  boiler.  On  the  contrary,  a  far- 
ther diminution  in  the  rate  of  combustion  might 

o 

allow  the  radiation  and  conduction  of  heat  a 
greater  length  of  time  to  exercise  their  influ- 
ence in  diminishing  the  evaporation.  When 
the  rapidity  of  combustion  is  such  as  to  send 
the  products  of  combustion  beyond  the  absorb- 
ing surfaces,  at  a  temperature  greatly  above 
that  of  the  steam  in  the  boiler,  it  is  evident 
that  some  loss  must  be  the  consequence,  for 
the  escaping  gas  would  then,  if  applied  to  a 
boiler  within  the  chimney,  evidently  be  able 
to  generate  an  additional  portion  of  steam  of 
the  same  tension,  since  we  know  of  no  limit 
to  the  principle  that  a  hotter  body  will  impart 
heat  to  a  colder. 

Whenever,  in  the  progress  of  combustion, 
apertures  of  considerable  magnitude  occur 
among  the  fuel,  large  portions  of  unburnt  air 
make  their  way  through  the  fire,  and  not  only 
prevent  the  latter  from  doing  its  office  for  the 
time,  but  become  robbers  of  the  more  useful  por- 
.tions  of  air  by  depriving  the  burning  mass  of  its 
heat,  which  are  taken  away  into  the  chimney, 


94  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

and  dispersed  at  the  top.  All  who  have  wit- 
nessed the  effect  of  burning  anthracite-dust  with 
a  fan  blast,  will  have  noticed  the  constant  ten- 
dency to  form  little  blow  holes,  which,  enlarg- 
ing by  degrees,  allow  portions  of  air  to  become 
heated  excessively,  but  not  burnt.  A  portion 
of  the  dust  is  likewise  projected  upwards,  and 
sent  wholly  beyond  the  seat  of  combustion. 
When  coal  of  a  large  size  is  burned  in  too  thin 
a  stratum  on  a  grate,  many  interstices  must  in 
like  manner  exist,  and,  in  the  case  of  dust  and 
pea  coal,  the  superiority  of  effect  arising  from 
mixing  with  them  a  portion  of  bituminous  coal, 
will  probably  be  found  to  depend  on  the  par- 
tial agglutination  and  envelopment  of  the  par- 
ticles of  anthracite  in  those  of  the  coke,  pre- 
venting the  mobility  of  the  former,  and  com- 
pelling the  air  to  a  more  minute  subdivision 
and  equal  distribution  throughout  the  mass. 
In  regard  to  the  quality  of  the  dust  of  anthra- 
cite, it  may  in  general  be  regarded  as  quite 
equal  in  purity  to  that  which  comes  to  market 
in  larger  masses,  since  the  brittleness  of  pure 
anthracite,  and  the  toughness  of  slate,  allows 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 


95 


the  former  to  be  more  comminuted  than  the 
latter. 

On  the  subject  of  the  evaporative  power  of 
bituminous  coal,  when  employed  in  boilers  of 
different  forms,  we  have  several  elaborate  pa- 
pers by  Mr.  Josiah  Parkes,  published  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engi- 
neers. The  table  contained  in  the  3d  vol.  of  that 
work,  page  45,  is  particularly  interesting  on  ac- 
count of  the  numerous  facts  which  it  embodies, 
and  of  the  conclusions  to  which  a  comparison  of 
these  may  lead.  A  few  of  the  data  there  fur- 
nished, will  enable  us  to  institute  comparisons 
between  the  results  of  American  experience 
with  anthracite,  and  that  of  the  English  en- 
gineers, when  using  bituminous  coal  or  coke. 

"  The  practice  of  slow  combustion,"  says 
Mr.  Parke,  "  is  evidently  conducive  to  econo- 
my in  the  treatment  of  fuel." 

"  Boilers  tested  as  to  their  merit  by  their 
respective  evaporative  economy,  arrange  them- 
selves for  consideration  in  the  inverse  order  of 
the  rate  of  combustion." 

"  A  second,  though  somewhat  less  regular 


96  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

coincidence  between  the  operating  causes  and 
economical  results,  is  indicated  by  the  extent 
of  surface  exposed  to  absorb  the  heat  supplied 
to  the  boiler.  *  *  Economy  of  heat  is 
promoted  in  some  proportion  of  the  extent  of 
the  absorbing  surface." 

Mr.  Parkes  lays  considerable  stress  upon  the 
thickness  of  metal  of  which  a  boiler  is  com- 
posed, as  influencing  the  rate  of  evaporation, 
and  also  on  the  temperature  of  combustion,  as 
affecting  the  durability  of  boilers.  In  regard 
to  the  former  of  these  points,  I  may  mention 
that  my  own  experiments  on  iron  of  different 
thicknesses,  from  1-50  to  1-4  of  an  inch,  and 
those  of  Mr.  Hayes,  from  1-8  up  to  1  inch, 
prove  that  within  these  limits,  which  are  in 
both  directions  far  beyond  the  requisitions  of 
the  steam-boiler,  no  sensible  difference  will  be 
produced  in  the  evaporative  effect  of  fuel. 
And  with  respect  to  the  second  point,  I  would 
refer  to  the  fact,  first  established  by  my  ex- 
periments, published  some  years  since  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Science,  and  since  repro- 
duced both  in  England  and  in  this  country, 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  97 

that  so  long  as  water  is  in  contact  with  iron 
under  atmospheric  pressure  the  metal  will  not 
receive  a  temperature  much  more  than  100° 
Fahrenheit  above  the  boiling  point ;  for,  from 
312°  to  324°  is  reached  the  temperature  of 
maximum  vaporization,  —  a  rate  of  generat- 
ing steam  far  beyond  the  practice  even  in 
locomotive  engines. 

Another  fact  may  be  mentioned  in  proof 
that  unnecessary  stress  is  laid  on  these  particu- 
lars, which  is,  that  metallic  tubes,  of  moderate 
thickness,  even  of  copper,  lead,  or  soft  solder, 
when  kept  filled  with  water,  may  be  used  to 
traverse  a  fire  where  an  intense  temperature 
prevails,  as  in  a  grate  using  anthracite,  with- 
out danger  of  melting.  Years  of  experience 
have  convinced  me  of  this  truth.  It  is  also 
well  known  that  in  house-heating  apparatus, 
on  the  hot  water  system,  wrought  iron  tubes 
of  a  quarter  of  an  inch  or  more  in  thickness, 
are  made  to  pass  through  or  around  the  fire, 
and  yet  remain  for  a  long  time  without  sensi- 
ble deterioration.  I  have  employed  such  an 
apparatus  with  anthracite,  without  the  least 


98  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

inconvenience.  Bad  iron  may  suffer  deterio- 
ration when  used  for  a  boiler  at  any  tempera- 
ture, and  corrosive  liquids,  or  gases,  may  de- 
stroy the  best,  but  it  is  often  observed  that  in 
wrought-iron  heating  apparatus  the  parts  near 
the  fire  suffer  less  than  those  more  remote. 
When  a  boiler  is  allowed  to  become  coated 
with  sediment,  it  matters  little  whether  wood, 
bituminous  coal,  or  anthracite,  be  the  fuel.  It 
must  inevitably  suffer  from  overheating. 

The  Cornish  boiler  combines  the  advantages 
of  slow  combustion,  large  relative  absorbing 
surface,  and  great  length  of  time  for  heat  to 
remain  in  contact  with  any  given  portion  of 
that  surface. 


MR.  PARKES'S  RESULTS 
In  the  Cornish  Boiler. 

"  1  Ib.  of  coal  was  burnt  in  44.08  seconds. 
3.46  Ibs.  of  coal  was  burnt  on  each  square 
foot  of  grate  per  hour. 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  99 

1  Jb.  of  water  was  evaporated  by  1  square 

foot  of  surface  per  hour,  from  212°. 
11.62*  Ibs.  of  water  were  evaporated  by  1  Ib. 
of  coal  from  212°." 


Wagon  Boiler,  Warwick  experiments. 

"  1  Ib.  of  coal  burnt  under  one  boiler  in  38.31 

seconds. 
4  Ibs.  of  coal  burnt  on  each  square  foot  of 

grate  per  hour. 

6.39  Ibs.  of  water  evaporated  by  1  square 
foot  of  heated  surface  per  hour  from 
212°. 

10.23  Ibs.  of  water  evaporated  from  1  Ib.  of 
coal,  burnt  from  212°." 

Mr.  Parkes,  by  a  trial  of  6  months'  contin- 
uance, evaporated  181-2  cubic  feet  of  water 

*  By  assuming  the  latent  heat  of  vapor  to  be  accord- 
ing to  the  determination  of  Watt,  only  950°,  Mr.  Parkes 
produces  in  this  case  11.82,  and  in  other  cases,  cor- 
responding differences  in  evaporative  results,  all  which 
I  have  adjusted  to  a  latent  heat  of  1030°. 


100  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

by  112  Ibs.  of  coal,  or  10.23  Ibs.  to  1  Ib.  of 
coal,  from  212°,  as  stated  in  the  preceding 
extract. 


Wagon  Boiler,  mean  of  eight  experiments. 

"  1  Ib.  of  coal  burnt  under  one  boiler  in  16.57 

seconds. 
10.75  Ibs.  of  coal  burnt  per  square  foot  of 

grate  per  hour. 

7  1-10  Ibs.  of  water  evaporated  by  1  square 
foot  of  heated  surface  per  hour,  from 
212°. 

8.76  Ibs.  of  water  evaporated  by  1  Ib.  of  coal 
from  212°." 


Locomotive  Boiler. 

"  1  Ib.  of  coke  burnt  under  one  boiler  in  6.45 

seconds. 

79.33  Ibs.  of  coke  burnt  on  each  square  foot  of 
grate,  per  hour. 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  JQl 

12  Ibs.  of  water  evaporated  by  1  square  foot 

of  heated  surface  per  hour. 
7.12  Ibs.  of  water  evaporated  by  1  Ib.  of  coke 

from  212°. 
5.70  Ibs.  of  water  evaporated  by  1  Ib.  of  coal 

from  212°,  by  calculation. 
5.11  Ibs.  of  water  evaporated  by  1  Ib.  of  coal 

from  212°,  by  Wood's  experiment." 


BITUMINOUS    COAL    IN    MARINE    BOILERS. 

Mr.  Tredgold  gives,  in  his  Treatise  on  the 
Steam  Engine,  an  account  of  an  experiment 
on  board  the  steamer  African,  in  which  306 
cubic  feet  of  fresh  water  were  evaporated  by 
the  consumption  of  24  cwt.  of  Heaton  coal. 
This  is  19,125  Ibs.  of  water  raised  into  steam 
by  2,688  Ibs  of  coal,  from  the  initial  tempera- 
ture, presumed  to  be  60°.  To  compare  this 
with  other  results  above  mentioned,  we  find 
that  7.11  Ibs.  of  water  were  evaporated  by  1 
Ib.  of  coal  from  60°,  and  that  ^!§  X  7.1 1  =  8.15, 
were  obtained  from  212°. 


102  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 


MR.   PLAYER'S    METHOD    OF   BURNING    AN- 
THRACITE. 

Mr.  Player  has  invented  a  method  of  sup- 
plying anthracite  to  the  furnace  of  a  steam 
boiler,  a  description  of  which  is  contained  in 
the  8th  vol.  of  the  Reports  of  the  British  Asso- 
ciation, transactions  of  sections,  p.  130.  "  The 
coal  is  heated  before  it  reaches  the  fire.  It  is 
supplied  to  the  grate  through  a  perpendicular 
chamber,  placed  centrally  on  the  top  of  the 
boiler,  with  an  opening  about  20  inches  in 
diameter,  immediately  over  the  fireplace.  In 
passing  through  this  chamber,  by  its  contact 
with  the  plates,  the  coal  acquires  considerable 
heat,  and  descending  by  its  own  gravity  as  the 
fire  consumes  beneath,  replaces  what  has  been 
burnt ;  by  which  means  a  regular  supply  of 
fuel  is  furnished,  fit  for  immediate  and  com- 
plete ignition.  The  action  of  the  fire  is  regu- 
lar, not  checked  at  any  time  by  fresh  applica- 
tions of  cold  fuel.  The  fire  is  never  meddled 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 

with  ;  there  are  no  fire-drawers,  no  currents 
of  cold  air  passing  through  the  flues.  One 
engine  worked  72  hours  consecutively,  during 
which  time  the  grate  neither  choked  nor  clink- 
ered,  nor  was  a  bar  used  for  the  fire,  or  did 
there  remain  any  considerable  result  in  ashes. 
The  coal  was  in  this  instance  entirely  anthra- 
cite (small  but  not  powdery)  and  tipped  into 
the  feeding  chamber  once  every  four  hours. 
Water  was  kept  in  the  ash  pit,  and  being  con- 
verted into  steam,  aided,  to  some  extent,  the 
production  of  flame.  Smith's  fires  are  worked 
on  a  similar  principle,  and  a  foundry,  with  a 
flue  to  take  off  the  flame,  is  managed  on  the 
plan  of  heating  the  fuel,  to  avoid  clogging  the 
fire  by  the  splintering  up  of  anthracite,  when 
suddenly  exposed  to  a  high  temperature." 

In  regard  to  the  method  of  Mr.  Player,  it  may 
be  remarked,  that  few  only  of  the  anthracites  of 
Pennsylvania  require  us  to  guard  against  the 
evil  which  this  invention  is  intended  to  obvi- 
ate. Smithwork,  melting  iron,  and  generat- 
ing steam  are  all  now  effected  without  a  resort 
to  any  expedient  to  prevent  the  comminution 
of  the  coal. 


1Q4  EVAPORATIVE   POWER 

On  the  efficacy  of  Mr.  Player's  invention,  in 
promoting  evaporation,  we  have  two  reports ; 
one  from  Messrs.  Dr.  Charles  Schauffheautl 
and  William  Bevan,  and  the  other  from  Messrs. 
Josiah  Parkes  and  C.  Manby,  from  which  the 
following  abstracts  are  taken. 


From  the  Report  of  Dr.  Charles  Schaufheautl 
and  Mr.  William  Sevan. 

"  Pure  charcoal  (procured  from  the  distilla- 
tion of  sugar),  has  been  found  by  Despretz 
to  be  capable  of  evaporating  12.3  times  its  own 
weight  of  water,  at  32°,  and  under  a  pressure 
of  one  atmosphere.  This  is  therefore  a  stand- 
ard measure  to  which  all  other  fuels  may  be 
compared."  At  212°  it  is  14.45  pounds  to  1. 

"  To  evaporate  this  quantity  of  water,  1  Ib. 
of  pure  charcoal  must  combine  with  2.6166 
pounds  of  oxygen.  As  hydrogen  is  likewise 
a  component  part  of  many  fuels,  that  also  must 
be  taken  into  account.  In  combustion,  hydro- 
gen combines  with  8.009  times  its  own  weight 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  ]Q5 

of  oxygen,  and  the  quantity  of  heat  evolved, 
as  compared  to  carbon,  is  in  the  same  ratio  as 
the  quantity  of  oxygen  with  which  they  com- 
bine in  burning." 

Analyses  of  Swansea  Anthracite. 

"Carbon           .  .  .  92.42 

Hydrogen       .  .  .  3.37 

Oxygen           .  .  .  1.43 

Nitrogen         .  .  .  1.05 

Sulphur           .  .  .  0.12 

Ashes  and  loss  .  .  1.61 

100. 
Sp.  Gr.      ...     1.413 

Another  Specimen. 

Water    ....  .300 

Oxide  of  iron          .         .  .264 

Alum     .         .         .         .  .478 

Silica 190 

Hydrogen      .         .         .         2.390 


106  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

Oxjdeofiron         .         .  1.336 

Azote    .         .         .         .  0.876 

Carbon           .         .         .  94.100 
Sulphur  trace 

Loss     ....  0.068 

100. 

92.42  carbon  require  241.825  oxygen 
3.37  hydrogen  27.017 

Hence  268.842  represents 

the  total  amount  of  oxygen  required." 

"The  anthracite  contains  1.43  oxygen  in  a 
fixed  state,  and  as  the  sulphur  and  iron  in  the 
sulphuret,  combine  during  combustion  with 
0.16  oxygen  to  form  sulphurous  acid  and  oxide 
of  iron,  these  quantities  of  oxygen  must  be 
subtracted  ;  viz.  1.43  +  0.16,  leaving  267.252 
as  the  total  quantity,  or  2.67  pounds  of  oxygen 
to  consume  1  pound  of  anthracite ;  and  since 
pure  carbon  only  requires  2.6166,  we  may 
safely  assume,  that  1  pound  of  the  anthracite 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  107 

used  in  our  experiment,  (and  which  was  not 
like  the  sample  analyzed,  perfectly  free  from 
heterogeneous  matter),  is  able  theoretically  to 
evaporate  12.3  pounds  of  water  at  32°. 

Surface  of  boiler,  horizontal         22.5 
"      "       "       vertical  171.87 


Total  equivalents      194.37  ?: 

"  The  vertical  being  reduced  to  horizontal 
surface,  we  have  for  total  effective  surface  65.5 
superficial  feet. 

Thickness  of  boiler  plate  1-4  inch. 

Boiler  contained  62  cubic  feet  of  water,  29 
cubic  feet  of  steam. 

The  area  of  fire  bars  was  7  superficial  feet. 

The  mass  of  fire  10  cubic  feet. 

The  mass  of  coal  in  the  feeding-chamber, 
5.5  cubic  feet." 

"  The  pressure  on  the  boiler  was  constantly 
equal  to  1.909  atmospheres  or  13.64  pounds 
per  square  inch,  and  the  steam  was  kept  up 
with  great  regularity." 


]Q3  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

"  During  the  experiment  the  average  height 
of  the  barometer  was  29.18  inches,  that  of  the 
thermometer,  45.5°. 

The  anthracite  consumed  during  the  twelve 
hours,  amounted  to  372.28  pounds,  and  the 
water  evaporated  by  it  reduced  to  32°,  was 
3934.3  pounds  :  therefore,  1  pound  of  anthra- 
cite, evaporates  10.56  pounds  of  water  under 
a  pressure  of  1.909  atmospheres,  or  11.11 
pounds  of  water  under  1  atmosphere ;  from 
which  it  appears,  that  the  actual  loss  of  calo- 
ric, taking  the  theoretical  standard,  12.3 
pounds  water  to  1  pound  of  anthracite,  only 
amounted  to  0.096,  and  consequently,  it  is  not 
quite  one  tenth  part." 

Reducing  10.56  at  32°  to  212°  we  obtain 
12.4  pounds  of  water  to  1  of  steam,  which 
makes  the  result  comparable  with  those  given 
in  the  preceding  and  following  pages. 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 


109 


Extracts  from  the  Report  by  Josiah   Parkes 
and  C.  Manby,  Civil  Engineers. 

"  The  boiler  (on  board  the  steamer  Anthra- 
cite) was  too  small  to  develope  the  full  effect 
of  the  fuel  ;  the  draught  was  too  weak  to  vary 
sufficiently  the  quantity  of  evaporation  per 
hour. 


Experiment 

'7oal  burnt  per 
•square  foot   of 
irate  per  hour. 

Waier  evaporat 
ed  from  212°  per 
hour. 

\\  ater    evapo- 
rated from  2  12° 
by   1   pound  of 
anthracite. 

Water    evapo- 
rated from  2  12° 
i>y   112  pounds 
of  anthracite. 

1... 

o 

Ihs. 
....14.86  .... 
..   12  65  

...1963.89  .... 
2240.00  

....  6.44  .. 
8.13  ... 

cubic  feet. 
....11.66 
14  S6 

3 

3  18  . 

..     833  02  ... 

..   12  15  . 

21  94 

4  

....  2.94  .... 

....  8IS7.44  .... 

....13.35  .... 

....24.18 

Water  reduced  to  212°.*  Air  went  into  the 
chimney  in  the  first  and  second  experiments, 
hot  enough  to  melt  zinc,  even  on  the  third 
and  fourth  experiments,  when  2-3  of  the 
chimney  was  closed." 


*   15°  of  the  heat  is  computed  to  be  carried  up  the 
chimney  with  the  burnt  air. 
10 


1|  ()  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

"  Comparing  the  mean  of  the  two  highest 
with  the  two  lowest  results,  it  appears  that  by 
increasing  the  rapidity  of  combustion  in  the 
ratio  of  4.49  to  1,  the  evaporation  in  equal 
times  was  increased  only  in  the  ratio  of  2.47 
to  1,  whilst  the  evaporative  product  f vm  equal 
weights  of  coal,  was  diminished  in  the  ratio  of 
1.74  to  1." 

"  Recorded  experiments  with  the  Welsh  coal 
in  Cornish  boilers,  show,  that  at  the  same  rate 
of  combustion,  as  in  our  fourth  experiment, 
viz.  ;  2.94  pounds  per  square  foot  of  grate  per 
hour,  the  evaporative  product  was  21.31  cubic 
feet  from  212°  by  112  pounds  of  coal,  or  11.78 
pounds  by  1  pound  of  coal.'" 

"  Under  like  rates  of  combustion,  therefore, 
the  anthracite  exceeded  the  Welsh  coal  in  the 
ratio  of  13.35  to  11.78,  or  by  13  per  cent, — 
but  the  relative  area  of  the  heat  absorbing 
surfaces,  the  period  of  the  duration  of  the  heat 
about  those  surfaces,  and  the  radiating  condi- 
tion of  the  exterior  of  the  respective  boilers  — 

*  See  table' of  boilers,  experiment  1,  Transactions  of 
Institute  of  Civil  Engineers,  part  I.,  Vol.  III. 


OF   ANTHRACITE. 


all  which  circumstances  materially  influence 
the  realization  of  high  evaporative  product,  — 
are  so  much  in  favor  of  the  Cornish,  compared 
with  the  "Anthracite  "  boilers,  as  to  justify  the 
inference,  that  if  our  experiments  could  have 
been  conducted  under  equally  favorable  cir- 
cumstances with  those  of  the  Cornish  boilers, 
the  results  would  have  been  considerably 
greater  than  those  we  actually  obtained." 

"  The  Cornish  boiler  presented  an  area  of 
961.66  square  feet,  and  the  "Anthracite's" 
boiler  340  square  feet,  to  receive  the  heat  gen- 
erated from  equal  weights  of  coal  and  of  an- 
thracite, in  equal  times  =  2.549  to  1  in  favor 
of  the  former." 

"  The  rates  of  combustion  and  consequently 
the  velocity  of  the  current  of  heat  from  the 
grates  were  equal.  The  distance  passed  over, 
or  circuit  made  by  the  heat,  after  quitting  the 
grates,  was  152  feet  in  the  Cornish,  and  3  feet 
in  the  "  anthracite  "  boiler  ;  and  the  period  of 
the  duration  of  the  heat  about  equal  ;  surfaces 
of  the  two  boilers  were  21-2  times  larger  in 
the  Cornish  boilers  than  in  those  of  the  "  an- 


]]<2  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

thracite."  The  Cornish  boiler  was  enveloped 
in  good  non-conducting  substances,  that  of  the 
"  Anthracite  "  had  little  or  no  defence  against 
loss  from  radiation  ;  considering  these  differ- 
ences, and  their  influence  over  evaporative 
economy,  we  are  of  opinion,  that  under  equal 
circumstances,  anthracite  would  greatly  exceed 
the  best  bituminous  coal  in  calorific  value, 
it  having  already  given,  even  under  com- 
paratively unfavorable  circumstances,  a  result 
greater  by  13  pci  cent,  than  any  on  record. 
The  highest  known  evaporative  product,  from 
New  Castle  and  Staffordshire  coal,  is  10.23 
pounds  at  212°  by  1  pound  of  coal,  obtained  at 
Warwick.*  Our  fourth  experiment  with  an- 
thracite exceeded  the  Warwick  experiment 
30  per  cent.  Mr.  Player's  method  of  supply- 
ing anthracite,  dispenses  with  all  mechanical 
means  ;  with  the  labor  of  stoking,  and  with 
the  waste  and  injury  arising  from  the  common 
system  of  firing  by  the  shovel  through  the  fire 
door.  No  stoking  in  general  takes  place  dur- 
ing the  day." 

*  Trans.  Inst.  Civ.  Eng.,  Part  I.,  Vol.  III. 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 

"  When  working  with  the  damper  the  coal 
descended  so  uniformly,  that  the  water  tank, 
which  held  400  pounds,  was  emptied  so  nearly 
in  equal  times,  as  scarcely  to  vary  a  single 
minute  for  hours  together.  The  coal  descend- 
ed upon  the  fire  precisely  at  the  rate  required 
by  the  combustion  ;  no  scoriae  were  produced  ; 
the  quantity  of  ashes  was  very  small." 


DR.  FYFE'S  EXPERIMENTS. 

On  the  8th  of  February,  1841,  Dr.  Andrew 
Fyfe,  President  of  the  Society  of  Arts  for  Scot- 
land, read  before  that  Society  a  paper  on  the 
evaporative  power  of  different  kinds  of  coal, 
in  which  he  compares  the  efficiency  of  Scotch 
and  English  bituminous  coals  with  that  of  an- 
thracite, or  what  he  terms  such,  though  with 
us  it  would  be  called  transition,  or  semibitu- 
minous  coal.  By  his  analysis  it  appears  to 
have  possessed  17.8  per  cent,  of  volatile  mat- 
ter, including  4.4  per  cent,  of  water,  and  10.8 

per  cent,  of  earthy  matter,  leaving  of  course, 
10* 


1J4  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

but  71.4  per  cent,  of  fixed  carbon.  It  had  a 
specific  gravity  of  from  1.303  to  1.406.  In- 
deed, so  far  as  the  proportion  of  its  three  prox- 
imate constituents  can  be  relied  on  to  indicate 
the  character  of  coal,  it  appears  to  be  nearly 
identical  with  several  of  the  free-burning  coals 
contained  in  Table  IV. 

His  first  trial  was  upon  Scotch  coal,  contain- 
ing 42  per  cent,  of  volatile  matter,  including 
7.5  of  water,  and  only  50.5  per  cent,  of  fixed 
carbon.  This  coal,  burned  under  a  boiler 
working  at  17  Ibs.  pressure,  evaporated  4880 
Ibs.  of  water  from  a  temperature  of  45°  Fah. 
by  the  combustion  of  732  Ibs.  of  the  fuel,  or 
6.66  Ibs.  of  water,  by  1  Ib.  of  coal.  Reducing 
this  to  the  standard  of  212°,  we  have  7.74  Ibs. 

This  and  the  other  experiments  of  Dr.  Fyfe 
are  contained  in  the  following  Table,  in  which 
I  have  reduced  them  to  the  temperature  of 
212°,  in  order  to  render  the  results  comparable 
with  others,  hereafter  to  be  noticed.  Little 
or  no  attention  seems  to  have  been  paid  in 
these  experiments  to  the  rate  of  combustion, 
without  which  nothing  can  be  inferred  in  re- 
gard to  the  relative  values  of  fuel. 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 


115 


TABLE  V. 


DR.  FYFE'S  Experiments  to  compare  Scotch  and  English  bitu- 
minous coals  with  anthracite,  in  regard  to  their  evaporative 
power,  in  a  high  pressure  boiler  of  a  4  horse  engine,  having 
a  grate  with  8.15  square  feet  of  surface.  Also  in  a  ivagon- 
shaped  copper  boiler,  open  to  the  air,  surface  18  feet,  grate 
1.55. 


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coal.                    i 

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6.66 

7.74 

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! 

Pressure  1" 
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tncb. 

Scotch  coal,  dif-  \ 

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5 

170 

6.62 

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33.33 

Do. 

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4    Scotch  coal,  from  ) 
near  Edinburg.  ( 

8-24 

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6.90 

5.31 

436.89 

3.15 

Low  pres- 
sure open 
cop.  boiler. 

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6.07 

8.4 

50 

7.84 

9.07 

3.91 

593.08 

3.06 

Do. 

116  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

We  come  next  to  an  examination  of  what 
has  been  done  in  the  United  States,  towards 
gaining  a  knowledge  of  the  evaporative  power, 
and  the  best  modes  of  employing  anthracite 
for  generating  them.  Here,  as  in  the  various 
domestic  uses,  the  smelting  and  puddling  of 
iron  with  anthracite,  and  its  employment  for 
locomotives,  and  for  steamboats,  we  shall  find 
our  countrymen  have  not  been  behind  Euro- 
peans, either  in  the  time,  or  in  the  magnitude 
of  their  labors. 


MR.  A.  A.  HAYES'S  EXPERIMENTS. 

The  following  interesting  extracts  were,  by 
the  kindness  of  my  esteemed  friend,  Dr.  Dana, 
and  the  politeness  of  the  writer,  placed  at  my 
disposal.  They  serve  to  show  how  early,  and 
how  successfully,  the  attempts  to  economise 
fuel,  particularly  anthracite,  have  been  prose- 
cuted in  this  country. 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  U7 

"  Roxbury  Laboratory,  Dec.  19, 1839. 
"  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Dana, 
"  My  Dear  Sir, 

"  I  feel  gratified  in  learning  that  the  results 
obtained  with  our  boilers  have  excited  jour 
interest,  and  it  will  afford  me  pleasure  to  state 
particularly  the  facts  in  reply  to  your  queries. 

"  1 .  The  size  of  our  boilers  1  They  are  18 
feet  long,  24  inches  in  diameter  inside,  and,  I 
think,  3-8  inch  thick. 

"Size  of  grate  surface?  There  are  18 
square  feet,  6x3,  but  the  spaces,  each  1-4 
inch  wide,  are  19  in  number,  there  being  18 
bars,  2  inches  wide,  including  spaces,  to  make 
the  width,  and  3  lengths,  of  3  feet  each,  to 
make  the  length. 

"  3.  The  pressure  ?  Our  valves  are  kept 
loaded  with  45  pounds  per  square  inch.  While 
working,  these  are  in  motion  about  one  third 
part  of  the  time.  Our  engine  has  the  usual 
dimensions  of  a  10  horse  engine,  and  while 
we  are  taking  off  steam  for  the  kettles,  wrorks 
rapidly ;  at  other  times  it  is  irregularly  at- 
tended. 


118  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

"  4.  The  quantity  of  coal  consumed  1  The 
largest  consumption  we  have  known  is  2060 
pounds  of  a  mixture  of  small  anthracite,  3 
parts  by  weight,  and  small  Sydney,  1  part,  in 
12  hours.  Sometimes  our  engine  works  half 
the  day,  with  a  less  consumption  of  fuel  before 
the  kettles  are  ready  for  the  steam  ;  we  then 
urge  the  fire,  and  in  6  or  7  hours  evaporate  as 
much  water  as  the  boilers  will  allow.  Had 
we  use  for  the  whole  steam  regularly  each  day 
of  12  hours,  we  could  supply  20,000  Ibs. 
The  trials, we  have  made  have  been  conducted 
as  follows.  In  the  morning  25  to  30  Ibs. 
of  flour  barrel  staves  were  thrown  on  a  clear 
grate,  fire  applied,  and  coal  added.  Water 
at  60°  Fah.  pumped  in  by  hand  until  at 
the  level  of  the  guage  cock,  the  safety  valve 
being  open.  The  measure-cistern  was  then 
filled  to  the  edge.  It  has  a  flow  pipe,  3  inches 
from  the  bottom,  and  contains  3437  Ibs.  above 
the  flow  pipe.  The  forcing  pump  lost  no 
water  in  its  strokes.  The  usual  workings  of 
the  kettles  being  continued  during  the  day,  at 
night  the  fuel  on  the  grate  was  raked  off  into 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  ]19 

the  ash  pit,  which  has  some  inches  of  water 
constantly  on  its  bottom.  In  the  morning  the 
unconsumed  fuel  was  separated  from  the  ashes 
and  mixed  with  that  to  be  used  during  the 
day.  Water  from  the  cistern  was  then  allow- 
ed to  flow  in  so  as  to  attain  the  initial  height 
in  the  boiler,  and  the  weight  of  the  coal  ascer- 
tained for  the  day  of  11  to  12  hours  firing." 

"  Instead  of  one  day's  working,  we  have 
weighed  in  5  tons  of  mixed  coal,  and  counted 
our  water  for  6  days,  deducting  unconsumed 
fuel.  In  this  way,  the  account  always  ex- 
ceeds the  mean  of  3  days,  owing  to  the  in- 
creased heat  of  the  flues.  Taking  3  days,  the 
mean  of  water  used  was  18,903  Ibs.,  and  of  mix- 
ed coal  1 827  Ibs.  The  idea  of  giving  the  present 
form  to  the  arrangement  was  borrowed  from  the 
Annales  d'Industrie,  1st  vol.,  after  I  had  fully 
satisfied  myself  of  the  inutility  of  the  tubular 
boilers.  In  the  form  adopted,  a  great  im- 
provement is  made  over  the  arrangement  al- 
luded to,  in  giving  more  surface  to  the  fire. 
The  air  which  passes  the  dampers  will  not 
melt  lead,  although  a  feeble  flame  of  burn- 


120  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

ing  carbonic  oxide  is  seen  within  3  feet  of 
them.  Considering  one  half  of  the  surfaces 
of  the  upper  boilers  exposed  to  flame,  we  have 
338  feet  of  heated  surface,  and  an  evaporating 
power  of  5  Ibs.  per  foot. 

"  The  grates  are  7  inches  from  the  nearest 
surface  of  the  lower  boilers,  and  the  fuel  is  kept 
3  to  4  inches  in  thickness  on  the  grate.  There 
are  dust  holes  for  ease  in  removing  ashes 
weekly,  and  the  fire  door  is  4  inches  below 
the  grates.  The  boilers  are  5  inches  apart 
(that  is,  from  upper  to  lower,)  and,  side  and 
side,  the  distance  is  3  inches  at  the  nearest 
point.  You  will  readily  perceive  that  the  in- 
tention is  to  expend  the  intensity  of  the  fire  on 
the  lower  boilers,  which  are  full  of  water  ;  for 
that  reason  the  side  flues  are  brought  within  4 
inches  of  the  boilers,  while  they  are  quite  free 
above ;  the  effect  is,  to  cause  the  flame  which 
passes  between  the  lower  boilers,  to  strike  the 
upper  ones,  and  then  descend  under  them  to 
the  side  flues,  wrapping  them  in  flame." 

"  The  secret  of  the  economy  of  fuel  under 
the  Cornish  boilers,  is,  I  think,  fairly  revealed, 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 


when  we  know  their  surfaces  and  mode  of 
firing.  In  using  bituminous  coal,  fully  1-10 
will  be  saved  by  heavy  charging  on  a  platform 
in  front  of  the  grates,  and  in  so  managing  as 
to  burn  the  vapors  and  gases. 

"  I  have  seen  4  boilers,  with  large  inside 
flues,  heated  by  anthracite,  under  a  blast  from 
a  fan,  where  the  gases  passed  under  and 
around  the  bridge,  through  the  flues  surround- 
ed by  water,  at  216°  Fah.,  then  mixed  and 
entered  a  chimney,  where  they  burnt  in  a  vol- 
ume 40  feet  high.  —  In  comparing  our  results 
with  any  other,  I  have  no  data.  The  availa- 
ble heat  from  anthracite  coal  certainly  exceeds 
that  from  an  equal  weight  of  coke,  and  another 
element  in  the  calculation  is  introduced,  when 
we  know  that  1-10  part  of  the  fuel  in  an 
ignited  state  is  in  contact  with  the  surface  of 
the  boiler  in  the  form  of  particles  forced  in 
contact  by  the  blast.  On  trying  a  fire  of  the 
best  coal,  in  fragments  of  2  and  3  inches 
square,  we  were  unable  to  work  our  kettles, 
and  compelled  to  withdraw  the  fuel,  and  use 

the    kind  adapted  to  the  form  of  grate   we 
11 


122  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

adopted.  I  have  been  in  the  neighborhood  of 
many  trials  of  tubular  boilers,  and  conclude 
from  their  history  so  far,  that  when  the  tubes 
are  small,  they  are  very  uneconomical  and 
troublesome  ;  that  the  best  results  are  obtain- 
ed from  passing  the  heated  air  and  gases  un- 
der long  boilers,  so  that  a  radiating  surface  of 
brick  may  form  a  part  of  each  flue,  and  there- 
by consume  the  combustible  part  of  the  gases. 
The  study  of  these  matters,  more  than  any 
thing  else,  has  shown  me  how  slowrly  we  glean 
a  little  knowledge ;  in  fact  it  is  strange  that 
among  such  a  number  of  eminent  engineers  as 
England  possessed,  and  with  such  a  vast 
amount  of  property  hazarded,  so  little  is  known 
of  the  phenomena  attending  the  combustion  of 
coal.  The  question,  what  becomes  of  the  25 
parts  of  matter,  which  should  produce  nearly 
as  much  heat  as  the  75  of  carbon,  remaining 
in  100  of  coal?  has  never  been  answered,  so 
far  as  I  can  learn. 

"  Yours,  respectfully, 
(Signed)  «  A.  A.  HAYES." 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 


123 


The-  following  figure  will  render  intelligible 
Mr.  Hayes's  present  plan  of  arranging  4  cy- 
lindrical boilers  within  a  furnace  ;  boilers  20 
feet  long,  grate  3  feet  wide  by  6  long. 


Water 


Line. 


Extract  from  a  letter  from  A.  A.  Hayes,  Esq. 
to  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Dana,  dated 

Roxbury,  December  25, 1839. 

"  In  relation  to  flues  within  boilers,  we 
were  at  the  expense  of  testing  their  value. 
The  apparatus  used  was  a  lead  kettle  27  feet 


124  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

long,  about  3  feet  wide,  2  feet  deep,  through 
which  a  plate  iron  tube,  1-6  inch  thick,  18 
inches  diameter  at  one  end,  10  inches  at  ex- 
treme end,  covered  with  6  Ib.  lead,  was  passed. 
The  large  end  entered  the  chamber  of  a  rever- 
beratory  furnace  fitted  for  burning  smoke,  the 
other,  a  chimney  of  strong  draught.  When 
the  kettle  was  filled  with  saline  fluid  the  ut- 
most, consumption  of  bituminous  coal  would 
not  produce  ebullition.  Indeed,  the  effect  of 
the  waste  steam  from  our  engine  in  the  same 
tube  was  greater  than  that  produced  by  the 
wasteful  expenditure  of  coal.  I  am  perfectly 
well  aware  of  an  escape  of  heat,  which  might 
be  economized  in  heating  water  for  supplying 
the  boilers  in  our  arrangement ;  but  the  ex- 
pense of  vessels,  &c.  has  prevented  me  from 
using  it.  Were  it  necessary  to  produce  a  large 
quantity  of  steam  here,  I  think  I  should  keep 
the  evaporating  power  up  to  6  Ibs.  per  square 
foot  for  anthracite,  and  economize  any  excess  of 
heat  by  separate  vessels.  In  burning  anthra- 
cite I  do  not  think  more  than  1  -5  of  the  oxy- 
gen in  the  air  passed,  is  consumed,  unless  the 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  125 

coal  is  at  its  highest  point  of  combustion,  and 
a  large  fire  seems  the  more  ready  way  of 
approaching  this  state. 

"'Dr.  Ure  has  lately  compared  anthracite 
with  the  best  steam  generating  coal  in  England, 
and  he  gives  anthracite  13  produce,  coal  91-2 
to  10." 


Dr.  Dana's  Experiments. 

Dr.  Samuel  L.  Dana,  of  Lowell,  Massachu- 
setts, has  made  experiments  on  six  or  seven 
different  arrangements  of  boilers,  viz. 

1.  On  two  cylindrical  boilers  set  together, 
20  feet  long  and  30  inches  in  diameter. 

2.  On  two  similar  boilers,  20  feet  long,  45 
inches  in  diameter. 

3.  On   three    cylindrical   boilers,   arranged 
within  the  same  furnace,  two  being  suspended 
side  by  side,  about  3  inches  apart ;  and  a  third, 
with  its  central  line  above  the  centre  of  this 
space. 

4.  On  four  cylindrical  boilers,  arranged  ac- 

11* 


126  EVAPORATIVE   POWER 

cording   to  the   plan  of  Mr.   Hayes,  already 
described. 

5.  On  a  tubular  boiler,  constructed  on  the 
general    plan    of    locomotive    boilers,   but   of 
greater  length,  and  having  only  12  tubes  of  3 
inches  in  diameter. 

6.  On   a  double  cylindrical    boiler,  of  the 
Cornish  form,  and  set  in  the  usual  mode  prac- 
tised in  Cornwall. 

7.  On  the  same   boiler,  altered  by  inserting 
in  the  interior  cylinder,  three  cylindrical  boil- 
ers ;  two  on  a  level  with  each  other,  and  one 
above  the  dividing  line  between  them,  leaving 
spaces  all  round  them  for  the  heat  to  play  on 
their  whole  surfaces. 

From  his  minutes  on  the  action  of  all  these 
boilers,  Dr.  Dana  has  very  kindly  furnished 
me  with  the  data  necessary  to  make  the  cal- 
culations of  the  following  tables.  All  who  are 
interested  in  the  subject  of  fuel  will  duly  ap- 
preciate the  important  labors  of  Dr.  D.  in 
endeavoring  to  devise  a  form  of  boiler  which 
should  combine  all  the  requisites  of  high  eva- 
porative efficiency  with  simplicity  of  construe- 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  J27 

tion,  facility  of  cleaning,  and  easy  access  to 
the  parts  in  case  of  making  repairs.  The 
interest  of  those  who  furnish  anthracite  to  the 
market,  will  obviously  be  promoted  by  what- 
ever demonstrates  its  efficacy  and  the  best 
modes  of  its  application. 

Besides  the  forms  of  boiler  above  mentioned, 
Dr.  Dana  has  made  other  arrangements,  some 
of  which  are  highly  successful,  more  particu- 
larly one  set  of  five  boilers,  36  feet  long,  of 
which  three  are  laid  or  rather  suspended  at  the 
same  level,  side  by  side,  at  2  or  3  inches 
apart ;  and  two  others,  each  above  one  of  these 
spaces,  between  the  lower  boilers.  This  ar- 
rangement will  be  seen  to  differ  from  that  of 
Mr.  Hayes,  in  the  circumstance  of  the  latter 
placing  the  upper  boiler  vertically  over  the 
lower ;  and  Dr.  Dana,  over  the  centre  line  of 
the  interstices,  between  two  adjacent  lower 
boilers.  The  results  obtained  with  this  ar- 
rangement, are  not  contained  in  any  of  the 
tables,  but  are  understood  to  be  about  equally 
favorable  with  those  derived  from  the  combina- 
tion of  three  boilers.  In  all  the  arrangements 


128  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

at  Lowell,  the  grates  are  set  7  inches  bekxw 
the  lower  periphery  of  the  lower  boilers,  and 
the  chifnneys,  with  which  their  flues  are  con- 
nected, are  80  feet  high.  Three  large  circu- 
lar chimneys,  of  this  height,  are  on  the  premi- 
ses. The  pressure  of  steam  never  exceeds 
41-2  pounds  per  square  inch.  It  is  measured 
by  a  glass  syphon  gauge.  The  water  is  mea- 
sured before  going  into  the  boilers,  by  a  large 
rectangular  cistern,  and  is  fed  to  the  boiler 
according  to  its  actual  demands,  as  indicated 
by  a  float,  which  moves  a  valve  in  the  supply 
pipe.  The  stock  of  fuel  in  the  establishment 
is  well  secured  against  moisture. 


OF   ANTHRACITE. 


129 


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131 


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cite,  32.4  per  cent. 

5  diflcrences  In  rate  o 
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132  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

The  kinds  of  anthracite  which  Dr.  Dana  has 
chiefly  used,  are  Lackawanna,  Peach  Mountain, 
Lehigh  and  Beaver  Meadow ;  and  between 
these  there  does  not  appear  to  be  a  very  im- 
portant difference  in  efficiency.  The  Beaver 
Meadow  and  Lehigh  gave  results  so  nearly 
alike,  as  scarcely  to  require  a  distinction  to  be 
made,  and  the  other  two  kinds  are  also  pretty 
nearly  on  a  par  with  each  other.  When  the 
Cornish  boiler,  altered  by  putting  in  three 
interior  cylinders,  was  newly  fitted  up,  the 
result  for  days  together  was  13  1-4  pounds 
of  water  to  the  pound  of  anthracite,  of  Beaver 
Meadow,  evaporated  from  the  initial  tempera- 
ture, or  15.56  pounds  from  212°. 

In  some  cases  the  result  reached  above 
14.5  pounds  to  one  of  coal,  (=  16.641bs.  from 
212°),  but  of  these  only  a  few  were  obtained. 

Other  results  will  be  readily  learned  by  an 
inspection  of  the  preceding  and  following 
tables. 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 


133 


134 


EVAPORATIVE  POWER 


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I 


Remarks. 

j 

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OF  ANTHRACITE. 


135 


Compare  this  result  with  No.  1. 

This  result,  compared  with  the  mean 
of  Nos.  11  —  17,  is  less  by  12.35  per 
cent.  —  due  to  rapid  combustion. 

1 

3 

fill 

^.-.5  I  > 

~3  -'S  rt 

Comparing  the  mean  of  these  two 
with  Exper.  No.  21,  we  find  a  gain 
of  12.-19  per  cent,  by  a  reduction  of 

:: 

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By  comparing  the  mean  result  of  the 
29th  arid  30th  experiments  with  the 
mean  of  the  38th  arid  39th,  we  find, 
that  by  increasing  the  time  of  burn- 
ing a  portion  of  this  mixture  from  28 
to  41  seconds,  the  evaporation  from 
one  pound  of  coal  was  increased 
from  9.33  to  9.81. 
Experiments  31  —  34  compared  with 
experiment  10,  show  that  at  the 
same  rate  of  combustion,  this  mix- 
ture is  very  nearly  equal  rn  effect  to 

rne  nut  antnracite  ot  luBCKawauna. 

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OF  ANTHRACITE. 

It  appears  from  Table  X,  that  when  evapo- 
ration in  the  tubular  boiler  was  pushed  to  3.01 
pounds  of  water  per  hour,  instead  of  2.41 
pounds,  the  loss  of  total  effect  of  fuel  was 
13.45  per  cent.  ;  but  the  activity  of  evapora- 
tion or  useful  effect  of  the  boiler,  considered 
solely  with  a  view  to  the  time  it  \vas  in  action, 
was  increased  26.14  per  cent.  Hence,  if  the 
cost  of  the  boiler,  per  day,  including  interest, 
repairs,  attendance  and  incidentals,  were  equal 
to  that  of  the  fuel  it  consumed,  there  might  be 
actual  economy  in  driving  it  to  consume  100 
pounds  of  coal  per  hour,  instead  of  80  pounds. 
Evaporation  within  any  boiler,  or  on  any  me- 
tallic surface,  when  the  nature  and  condition 
of  that  surface  are  given,  must  depend,  as  was 
shown  in  my  papers  on  vaporization,  already 
referred  to,  entirely  on  the  temperature  main- 
tained in  the  metal,  and  according  to  a  certain 
law  of  increase,  will  be  more  or  less  rapid,  as 
the  temperature  rises.  After  reaching  a  cer- 
tain point,  the  rapidity  actually  diminishes  by 
an  increase  of  heat ;  but  this  point  is  probably 

seldom  reached  in  ordinary  steam  boilers  —  so 
12* 


138  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

that  with  a  given  pressure,  we  may  take  the 
rate  of  evaporation  in  a  given  boiler  to  indicate 
the  temperature  at  which  the  particular  fuel 
and  mode  of  firing  maintain  the  surface  of 
the  iron.  When  this  temperature  is  kept 
down  in  the  gaseous  products  by  the  entrance 
of  a  large  quantity  of  unburnt  air,  or  by  the 
formation,  at  a  low  temperature  of  gases,  from 
the  coal,  it  is  evident  that  the  evaporation  may 
remain  stationary,  though  a  large  increase  of 
combustion  may  be  going  on  in  the  furnace. 

We  are  enabled  to  compare  the  effect  of  the 
tubular  boiler  of  Dr.  Dana  with  the  common 
locomotive  boiler  used  on  railroads,  through 
the  means  of  M.  de  Pambour's  careful  experi- 
ments on  those  used  on  the  Liverpool  and 
Manchester  railway.  Thus  he  found  that  on 
an  average  of  eleven  experiments  with  coke, 
one  pound  produced  from  water  at  60°  Fahr. 
6.21  pounds  of  steam.  This  is  reduced  to  the 
standard  temperature  of  212°,  by  assuming 
what  has  been  proved  in  my  experiments  on 
the  strength  of  materials  for  steam  boilers  to 
be  the  latent  heat  of  the*  vapor  of  water,  viz. 


OF   ANTHRACITE. 

1030°.  Thus  the  latent  and  sensible  heat  im- 
parted to  water,  of  which  the  initial  tempera- 
ture is  60°,  will  be  152+1030=1182°,  and 
the  quantity  of  steam  generated  by  any  given 
quantity  of  combustible  from  wrater  at  212°, 
will  be  ij^o  of  what  it  would  be  from  water  at 
60°,  hence  ^SX 6.21  =7.126  pounds,  is  the 
weight  of  water  at  boiling  temperature  which 
would  have  been  converted  into  steam  by  this 
coke.  The  coke  used  by  Pambour  was  from 
a  coal  yielding  20  per  cent,  of  volatile  matter, 
not  useful  for  evaporative  force,  and  hence  the 
water  which  would  have  been  evaporated  by 
one  pound  of  the  raw  coal  from  212°  is  one 
fifth  less  than  7.126,  viz.  5.701  pounds.  In 
Dr.  Dana's  tubular  boiler  the  produce  is  11.96 
pounds  of  steam  per  pound  of  anthracite. 

M.  Pambour  found  that  in  the  English  loco- 
motive boiler  one  pound  of  coke  was  burned 
in  6.45  seconds.  In  Dr.  Dana's  a  pound  of 
anthracite  took  42.15  seconds,  or  more  than 
six  and  one  half  times  as  long. 

The  coke  burnt  on  each  square  foot  of  grate 
per  hour  by  Pambour  was  79.33  pounds,  while 


140  EVAPORATIVE   POWER 

• 

in  Dr.  Dana's  experiments  it  was  only  8.17, 
or  a  little  more  than  one  tenth  as  much. 

The  water  evaporated  bj  one  square  foot  of 
surface  of  boiler  per  hour  by  Pambour  was  12 
pounds,  while  by  Dr.  Dana  it  was  only  2.46. 

Admitting,  as  we  may  probably  do  with 
safety,  that  good  coke  has  nearly  the  same  eva- 
porative power  as  anthracite,  when  the  two  are 
burned  under  equally  favorable  circumstances, 
it  is  evident  that  the  slower  combustion  and 
longer  continuance  of  gas  in  contact  with  the 
absorbing  surfaces  of  the  boiler  have  given  to 
Dr.  D's.  result  an  advantage,  in  point  of  econo- 
my, of  67.8  per  cent. 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 


141 


' 


jnoq  jad 

U.JO 

juoj  ajunbs  auo 

Xq  pa^HJodEAa 

ia)BAA  jo  spuno,j 


•  JBOO  jo  piuiuil 

9tio  3uuunq  jo 

spuooas  ui  auitj, 


unoq  Jad 
•ajBJS  jo  jooj 
ajEnbs  Jad  jtunq 
IBOO  jospunoj 


•[Eoajo  punod 
auo  oj  oSIguiojj 
jajBA\jo  spunoj 


IJIlU  U10JJ  JB03 

jb  punod  auo 
* 


jaiBAvjo  spunoj 


aa|ioq  aqj  3uuaj 
ua  uo  jajEAv  aqj 
jo  ajniBiadniaj, 


mean  res 
time  of  o 
ent.  M» 


si  :i 


"3  5f  c  j. 

*  *« 


•&ii 

1  i! 


I  1s 
a  51 
8  Is 


3  «?    ~: 


«       —       ago      gjo 

o    i-;    .-;•-<    I-?-H 


s  §s  ss 

8!    53    532 


^.  to 


8    8 


88 


•juaaiuadxa  I  j   "^ 
aqijo  uoijBjnQ  |  •=   S3 


•jnoq  jad  jujnq  IS1        I      c?    o     -ITS?    ~  < 
IEOO  jo  spunoj  I        ^         |      2     2     SS     ~i 


II 


Jil 


§5 


33 


8  8 


81. 


142 


EVAPORATIVE  POWER 


o    ^ 
W  £• 


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Pk  ^S 


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n    <M 


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the  amo  -nt  ot  1.41 
fuvorofslow  com- 


11 


jnoij  jad  'ajiMS  | 
jo  jooj  gjunbs  | 
auo  uo  paiunq  | 

IKODJO  spuno.i  | 


saajaap  515  uiojj 
GOO  jo  punod  auo 

fljBM  jo  spunoj 


gjuiiMaduiaj  |;;ij 

nil  aqj  uiojj  i«oa 

jo  punod  auo 

Aq  pajKJodBA9 

J9JBA\  jospunod 

jo  jsquinvj 


jajioq  9ijj  Suuai 

-U9  UO    jajGAV  91)1 
JO  9JniKJ9d(U9X 


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otii  jo  uouiM"fl 


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9JBJS  9|OIJA\ 

I  uo  pauinq 
o  jo  ppunod 
jo  jaqnm.v 


s  s 


S  °Q 

CQU    I 


So 


Ill  this  ser 
of  combustio 
the  differenc 
to  give  posi 
pancy  may 


£  >  -c    .  2  -  OT-  '3 

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Is 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 

The  above  experiments,  from  No.  8  to  No. 
13,  inclusive,  were  made  after  the  two  8  inch 
water  pipes  had  been  removed  ;  and  the  infe- 
riority of  results  points  to  this  as  a  cause  of 
some  importance  in  obtaining  the  very  high 
evaporative  power,  in  experiments  from  1  to  4 
inclusive.  In  other  series  by  Dr.  Dana,  the 
escape  heat  of  the  gas  flue,  not  far  from  the 
boilers,  was  made  available  by  passing  under 
the  measuring  tanks,  from  which  the  water 
passes  to  the  boilers.  By  this  means  a  tem- 
perature of  120°  was  obtained. 

The  following  sketch  represents  the  general 
arrangement  adopted  by  Dr.  Dana  in  remodel- 
ing his  Cornish  boiler.  The  exterior  shell,  A, 
being  six  feet  in  diameter,  and  the  interior  one, 
By  3  feet  10  inches,  and  both  of  them  36  feet 
long ;  he  removed  a  portion  of  the  lower  arcs  at 
one  end,  represented  by  the  dotted  curves  c  c, 
to  the  distance  lengthwise  of  the  boiler,  of  six 
feet,  and  in  breadth  three  feet,  so  as  to  insert 
a  grate  of  that  breadth,  represented  by  the 
straight  dotted  line  g  g.  Above  this  grate, 
within  the  inner  cylinder,  and  extending 


144  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

through  the  whole  length  of  the  larger  boiler, 
are  placed  three  cylindrical  boilers,  b  b  b,  each 
nineteen  inches  in  diameter.  From  the  tops 
of  these  are  pipes,  extending  vertically  up- 
wards through  the  inner  shell,  B,  of  the  main 
boiler,  and  opening  above  the  level  of  the 
water  line,  w  w.  The  three  small  boilers,  bbb, 


\v 


g"**« 

are  also  connected  by  suitable  water  pipes  at 
the  ends,  both  with  each  other,  and  with  the 
water  chamber  of  the  large  boiler,  which  com- 
pletely encloses  them,  except  at  the  ends. 
Being  entirely  below  water  level,  they  are  by 
these  connexions  kept  constantly  filled  with 


OF   ANTHRACITE. 


water.  These  interior  boilers  are  suspended, 
and  kept  in  place  by  rods  coming  down  from 
an  iron  cross  beam,  resting  on  the  wall  of  the 
furnace,  beyond  the  ends  of  the  large  shells  A 


Mr.  Francis's  Experiments  on  Vertical  Boilers. 

The  following  results  of  experiments  con- 
ducted with  great  care  by  Mr.  James  B.  Francis, 
engineer  to  the  "  Locks  and  Canals  Company," 
at  Lowell,  has  been  kindly  furnished  to  the 
writer  by  that  gentleman.  In  a  double  verti- 
cal boiler,  12  feet  high,  31  inches  exterior 
diameter,  24  1-4  inches  interior  diameter  of 
the  inner  cylinder,  (leaving,  of  course,  3  inches 
between  the  two)  ;  there  was  placed  a  single 
vertical  cylindrical  boiler,  9  feet  8  inches  high 
and  20  inches  in  diameter  ;  the  bottom  of 
which,  therefore,  descended  to  within  2  feet 
4  inches  of  the  bottom  of  the  outer  shell. 
Suitable  water  and  steam  ways  connected  this 
inner  boiler  with  the  outer  double  shell,  and  a 
fire  door  through  the  latter,  afforded  access  to 

13 


146  EVAPORATIVE   POWER 

the  grate  placed  near  the  bottom  of  the  same. 
The  surface  of  boiler  here  exposed  to  the 
action  of  fire,  was  126  1-2  square  feet;  and 
the  area  of  grate  was  31-5  square  feet ;  con- 
sequently, the  boiler  surface  to  each  foot  of 
grate  surface  was  39.5  square  feet. 

In  this  boiler  there  was  evaporated  during  a 
continuous  action  of  nearly  five  days,  between 
the  22d  and  27th  of  February,  1841,  or,  more 
accurately,  in  6931  minutes,  54,035  pounds  of 
water  by  the  combustion  of  5283  pounds  of 
coarse  anthracite,  and  consequently  giving 
10.228  pounds  of  water  converted  into  vapor 
from  32°,  by  the  combustion  of  1  pound  of 
fuel. 

This  trial  was  made  during  the  coldest  season 
of  the  year;  the  mean  morning  temperature  of 
the  five  days  was  191  deg.,  noon,  29J  deg.,  and 
evening  21°.  The  water  supplied  to  the  boiler 
was  constantly  at  32°,  consequently  the  total 
heating  power  is  represented  by  1030  +  180 
X  10.228  =  12,376°,  which  is  equivalent  to 
12.015  pounds  of  water  evaporated  from  a 
temperature  of  212°  by  1  pound  of  coal.  The 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 


rate  of  combustion  per  hour  was  14.3  pounds 
of  coal  to  each  square  foot  of  grate  surface, 
and  the  water  evaporated  per  square  foot  of 
boiler  surface  per  hour  was  2.363  pounds.  .  A 
similar  series  of  experiments,  extending  from 
February  15  to  February  20,  with  water  also 
at  32°,  gave  as  the  evaporative  result  9.16 
pounds  at  the  initial  temperature,  or  11.65 
pounds  from  a  temperature  of  212°.  A  slight 
leak  in  a  part  of  the  apparatus,  rendered  this 
result  a  little  uncertain,  and  it  is  on  the  whole 
less  relied  on  than  the  preceding.  The  an- 
nexed figure  represents  a  section  of  Mr.  Fran- 
cis's boiler  ;  C  is  the  supply  pipe,  through 
which  water  is  injected  into  the  space  be- 
tween the  inner  and  outer  cylinders  of  the 
double  boiler,  whence  through  the  water-way, 
w,  it  finds  its  passage  into  the  interior  single 
boiler  or  "  pot,"  as  it  is  termed  by  the  inven- 
tor ;  s,  is  a  steam  way  connecting  the  upper 
part  of  the  inner  with  that  of  the  outer  boiler; 
and  S  is  a  pipe  conducting  the  steam  to  the 
place  where  it  is  used  in  heating  the  factory 
buildings.  On  an  enlargement  of  the  same 


148 


EVAPORATIVE   POWER 


pipe  is  placed  the  safety  valve ;  g1,  is  a  gas 
pipe,  connected  with  a  conical  bonnet,  through 
which  the  products  of  combustion,  escaping 
through  a  circle  of  holes,  from  the  space  be- 


Lj,  , 

> 

u> 

J      1O.  in. 

F 

3— 

3 

_r 

tween  the  outside  of  the  single  and  the  inside 
of  the  double  cylinder,  are  conveyed  into  the 
chimney.  The  pressure  was  constantly  less 
than  12  pounds  per  square  inch. 


OF  ANTHRACITE. 


149 


TABLE  XIII. — VERTICAL  BOILERS. 

Mr.  Francis's  Experiments  were  made  in  two  Boilers.  Grate 
surface  in  each,  3.21  square  feet.  Heated  surface  in  the 
first  two  Experiments,  126.5,  and  in  the  third,  114.25  square 
feet ;  pressure,  1  1-2  to  12  pounds. 


^ 

.j. 

'c-- 

? 

« 

"5  *o 

"    0 

p 

£ 

S, 

«g 

S^'5 

srt 

12  = 

^•g 

2  || 

1 

g£ 

ID 

^•^S 

I^CT 

*     y"  M 

|v;<-. 

s 

03 

^   0 

3 

— 

^^•c  c< 

^  ^H  o 

^  -fcj 

No.  of  ex 

| 

ll 

Duration 
inent  in  1) 

Temporal 
water. 

%  >  §"2 

CH    a    W  - 

lli 

111 
IK 

^  bC 

Jl 

ll 

1 

22.86 

112.18 

32 

10.245 

12.03 

7.13 

157.48 

2.74 

2 

22.80 

106. 

32 

9.916 

11.65 

7.12 

157.89 

2.100 

3 

40.94 

317.5 

32 

•V- 

7.857 

12.75 

87.93 

2.815 

COMPARATIVE  EVAPORATION  OF  VARIOUS  KINDS 
OF  FUEL,  FROM  WATER,  AT  212°. 

1.  Wood's  trial  of  coal  in  a  locomo- 

tive boiler        .         .         .         .7.12 

2.  Pambour's  trial  of  coke  in  a  loco- 

motive boiler  .         .         .         .5.12 

3.  Watt's  trial  of  coal,  of  Newcastle, 

Albion  Mills,  Wagon  boilers       .      9.63 

4.  Kenwood's  trial  of  Welsh  coal  in 

Cornish  boilers         .         .         .    11.62 

13* 


150  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

5.  Parke's  Warwick  experiments,  bi- 

tuminous coal  .         .         .    10.23 

6.  Wagon  boiler,  mean  of  eight  expe-. 

riments   .....      8.76 

7.  Locomotive  boiler,  coal  as  fuel     .      5.70 

8.  Tredgold    marine    boiler    of    the 

"  African  "  Heaton  coal   .         .      8.15 

9.  Schaufheautl's  trial  of  anthracite 

in  Player's  boiler      .         .         .    12.40 

10.  Cornish   boiler   experiment,   cited 

bj  Henwood    ....    11.78 

11.  Parkes's  and  Manby's,   on   Play- 

er's    boiler,    anthracite     maxi- 
mum        13.25 

12.  Fyfe's  experiment  on  Scotch   coal      7.74 

13.  "  «  «  Anthracite  "    10.10 

14.  English    bituminous    coal    Fyfe's 

open,  small,  copper  boiler  .      9.07 

15.  Hayes's  experiment  on  his  4  boil- 

ers, 3-4  anthracite,  1-4  bit.  dust    11.83 

16.  Dana's  experiments  with  Beaver 

Meadow  coal,  in  improved  Cor- 
nish boiler        .         .         .  15.56 

17.  Maximum  of  do.  16.64 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  J5J 

At  iron  works  of  various  kinds,  a  hot  blast 
is  frequently  employed.  It  may  therefore  be  of 
interest  to  know  what  benefit  may  be  derived 
from  its  application  to  the  furnace  of  a  steam 
boiler.  To  furnish  some  light  on  this  subject, 
I  make  the  following  abstracts  from  reports  on 
the  comparative  economy  of  the  two  methods 
of  combustion. 


Extract  from  Leonard  Schwartzes  report  on  the 
application  of  hot  air  to  the  furnaces  of  steam 
boilers. 

[Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Industrielle  De  Mulhausen.] 

1.  In   1835,  an   experiment   made  in  the 
establishment  of  Andrew  Koechlin  &  Co.  gave 
for  result   1    kilogram  of  Ronchamp  coal,   of 
medium  quality ;  3.92  k.  of  steam  with  cold 
air,  and  5.70  with  hot,  —  gain,  31  per  cent. 

2.  A  trial  in  the  boiler  of  Dollfuls,  Meig  & 
Co.  One  day's  work  at  spinning,  with  cold  air, 
took  7072  of  Gemonval  coal ;  and  the  same 


152  EVAPORATIVE   POWER 

work  was  done  with  5395  of  the  same  coal, 
using  hot  air ;  —  saving  24  per  cent. 

The  furnace  which  gave  31  per  cent,  econ- 
omy with  hot  air,  must  have  burned  the  coal 
very  imperfectly,  since  with  the  same  quality 
of  Ronchamp  coal,  by  repeated  trials  gave  a 
result  of 

5.33  steam  to  1  coal  in  a  copper  boiler, 
4.80        "        1         "        cast  iron  boiler, 
which  shows  that  nearly  as  much  effect  was 
here    obtained  -  by   cold    air,    as    at   Andrew 
Kcechlin's  with  hot  air. 

Experiments  in  1837. 

1.    AT  SCHLUMBERGER,  K(ECHLIN  &  Go's. 

Boiler,  3  lines  thick,  copper,  20  feet  long, 
5  feet  diameter,  with  two  interior  flues,  each 
15  inches  in  diameter.  The  fire  goes  under 
the  bottom  —  then  returns  by  the  two  sides  — 
then  passes  through  the  flues  to  the  chimney, 
which  is  cylindrical,  100  feet  high,  3  feet 
diameter  at  bottom  and  2  at  top.  The  grate 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  153 

has  20  feet  square  of  surface,  and  can  burn 
448  pounds  of  coal  per  hour.  Two  reservoirs 
of  water  30  feet  above  the  boiler,  kept  up  a 
constant  supply  by  means  of  a  float  in  the 
boiler,  which  keeps  the  level  always  the  same, 
This  boiler  gave  the  following  result. 

1.  Cold  Air. 

One  week  day  and  night  —  temperature  of 
boiler  350  c. 

No.  1,  2000  kilograms  of  Sarrebruck  coal, 
evaporated  10,000  kilograms  of  water. 

No.  2,  2000  kilograms  of  Blanzy  coal,  infe- 
rior kind,  gave  8000  kilograms  of  steam. 

2.  Hot  Air. 

No.  3,  2000  kilograms  Sarrebruck  coal, 
gave  10,100  kilograms  of  steam. 

No.  4,  2000  kilograms  inferior  Blanzy  coal, 
gave  8,480. 

Hence,  there  is  an  advantage  of  6  per  cent, 
in  favor  of  hot  air. 


154  EVAPORATIVE  POWER 

2.  AT  DOLLFULS,  MEIG  &  Go's. 

1.  Cold  Air. 

"  Boiler,  plate  iron  ;  24  horse  power ;  runs 
under  21-2  atmospheres ;  in  76  hours  of  work 
there  was  consumed  283  hectolitres;  11320 
kilograms  of  Blanzy  coal  (inferior),  being  3.72 
half  hectolitres,  or  148.80  kilograms  per  hour, 
of  work. 

2.  Hot  Air. 

"  During  78  hours  of  the  same  work,  250 
hectolitres,  or  10,000  kilograms  of  the  same 
coal  were  consumed ;  which  gives  3.20  hecto- 
litres, or  128  kilograms  per  hour.  Hence  the 
economy  is  14  per  cent.  In  good  furnaces, 
the  economy  by  hot  air  is  less  than  in  such  as 
are  badly  constructed." 

"  The  hot  air  flame  is  shorter  than  that  with 
cold  air ;  but  it  is  white,  more  intense,  and 
the  fuel  is  more  completely  consumed.  Bad 
coal  may  be  used  with  hot  air,  when  it  could 
not  be  with  cold.  Though  air  must  be  at 
500°  centigrade  in  order  to  take  fire,  yet  it  is 


OF  ANTHRACITE.  155 

evident  this  heat  is  more  readily  attained,  when 
the  air  comes  into  the  grate  at  100°  than  at  10°. 
The  hot  air  principle  may  always  be  adopted 
to  advantage,  where  there  is  too  high  a  tem- 
perature in  the  gas,  escaping  at  the  chimney. 

Extract  from  M.  Ed  Kcechlin's  experiments  on 
Evaporation,  in  an  apparatus  employed  in  a 
Dye  house.  Ronchamp  coal. 

1.  18  February,  1827.     Air,  15°.    Water, 
1°.     1  coal  produced  7.03.     Ashes,  29  per  ct. 

2.  4  March,  1827.     Air,  10°.     Water,  7°. 
1  coal  produced  7.36.     Ashes,  16  per  cent. 

CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

In  addition  to  the  evidence  furnished  by  all 
the  above  facts  in  proof  of  the  available  heat- 
ing power  of  anthracite,  it  may  not  be  amiss 
to  mention,  that  at  a.  foundry  in  Kensington, 
near  Philadelphia,  where  this  fuel  is  exclusively 
used,  there  were  melted  204,050  Ibs.  of  iron, 
by  the  consumption  of  38,600  Ibs.  of  anthracite, 
or  5.28  Ibs.  of  pig  iron- melted  by  each  pound 
of  anthracite  consumed.  There  is  little  doubt 


156  CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

that  this  result  is  below  the  maximum  efficiency 
for  this  purpose. 

On  reading  tho  preceding  accounts  of  expe- 
riments made  with  anthracite  in  this  country 
and  elsewhere,  two  circumstances  seem  par- 
ticularly worthy  of  attention  ;  of  which  the 
first  is,  that  much  higher  evaporative  power 
has  been  obtained  by  means  of  this  fuel,  than 
had  ever  before  been  derived  from  bituminous 
coal  ;  and  the  second,  that  by  improved  forms 
or  arrangements  of  boilers,  a  great  economy  of 
combustible  of  whatever  kind  can  be  obtained, 
over  what  has  heretofore  been  derived,  from 
that  form  which  prevails  in  all  the  iron  works, 
described  in  these  pages. 

A  beginning  has  at  least  been  made  of  some 
knowledge  resting  on  practical  experience, 
which  cannot  fail  to  guide  us  in  our  future 
researches,  and  to  set  a  due  estimate  on  the 
rich  treasures  which  Pennsylvania  contains 
within  her  bosom ;  and  which  await  but  the 
hand  of  patient  industry  to  render  them  avail- 
able, for  establishing  our  ancient  common- 
wealth on  the  very  piitnacle  of  prosperity. 

Philadelphia,  October,  1841. 


ERRATA. 

Page  10,  line  5  from  the  bottom,  for  "  fact,"  road  fuel. 
•<    11(1,  lino  5.  for  u  them,"  read  steam. 


156  CONCLUDING   REMARKS. 

that  this  result  is  below  the  maximum  efficiency 
for  this  purpose. 

On  reading  tho  preceding  accounts  of  expe- 
riments made  with  anthracite  in  this  country 
anH 


knowledge  resting  on  practical  experience, 
which  cannot  fail  to  guide  us  in  our  future 
researches,  and  to  set  a  due  estimate  on  the 
rich  treasures  which  Pennsylvania  contains 
within  her  bosom ;  and  which  await  but  the 
hand  of  patient  industry  to  render  them  avail- 
able, for  establishing  our  ancient  common- 
wealth on  the  very  piitnacle  of  prosperity. 
Philadelphia,  October,  1841. 


*, 


YB  I56? 


M130416 


7/U70 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


